Current Issue

1.16 / Louise

June 3, 2010. One of the most remarkable things about Louise Bourgeois’ career was neither its length nor late-bloom—although both are quite remarkable—but her capacity to remain current. Each new body of work added perspective to our understanding of her as an artist and to the dialogue around contemporary art.  That fact gains significance when we contemplate the ever-diminishing lifespan for an object’s relevance. Wunderkammers and wonder boxes are esoteric frameworks for perceiving the world; taste is an outmoded term in the discourse on art; and public sculpture no longer needs to make a permanent claim on a site.  That these objects and terms are being re-considered here has little to do with nostalgia.  Instead, there is the opportunity for “speculative reverberation,” as Christine Wong Yap notes in her review, the chance to understand why and how things have meaning in our lives in this moment. Enjoy —PM