Louise Bourgeois. Are You in Orbit? (#2) (2008)

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Louise Bourgeois. Are You in Orbit? (#2). 2008

NOT IN MoMA'S COLLECTION

Cat. No. 764.2

Are You in Orbit? (#2)

State/Variant:: Version 2 of 3, only state
Date:: 2008

Themes:: Abstraction, Nature
Techniques:: Etching
Description:: Soft ground etching, with selective wiping, and gray watercolor additions
Support:: Smooth, thick wove paper
Dimensions:: plate (in 2 vertical parts) (overall): 60 5/16 × 35 11/16" (153.2 × 90.7 cm); sheet: 59 13/16 × 35 13/16" (152 × 91 cm) (dimensions reflect full plate size; this is a partial print)
Signature:: "LB / Louise Bourgeois" lower right comp., pencil.
Publisher:: Osiris, New York
Printer:: Wingate Studio, Hinsdale, NH
Edition:: 7
Impression:: "7/9" lower left comp., pencil, artist's hand.
Edition Information:: The composition "Are You in Orbit?" was made on one plate in two vertical parts (A and B).

The Evolving Composition Diagram below includes impressions of parts A and B printed separately (called partial plate impressions), as well as impressions of the two parts printed side by side in different layouts. The full compositions are organized into three versions according to plate layout. There were no state changes to the plate from version to version.

In the first version, the layout shows the tendrils pointing out toward the edges of the sheet. In the second version, the layout shows the tendrils pointed in toward the center of the sheet.

There are unique variants of both versions, all with extensive hand additions. The third version is a multi-panel work that combines both versions of the composition.

See Evolving Composition Diagram:
First version, unique variant: "Are You in Orbit?"
Second version, unique variant: "Le Coeur Est Là" and "Étoile (#1)"
Third Version: Untitled, no. 5 of 5, from the series, "When Did This Happen?"

There are two known cancellation proofs of version 1, each with a large "X" drawn across the composition from each corner of the plate.

Version 2 was intended to be published as an edition of 9, as indicated by the numbering on this impression. However, only 7 of the 9 published impressions were realized (numbered "1/9"–"7/9"). Selective wiping varies greatly from impression to impression. See another example in the Evolving Composition Diagram below.
Background:: Benjamin Shiff, the director of the Osiris imprint, collaborated with Bourgeois in a highly experimental phase of printmaking that occupied the last years of her life, from 2005 to 2010. He first established a working relationship with the artist in the 1990s, but the late period is particularly noteworthy for the innovative and complex large-scale projects that evolved at that time. Shiff made use of professional workshops for printing, but he oversaw the creation of the printing plates as Bourgeois worked on them in her home studio. He also provided assistance as she added extensive hand additions and texts, and as she combined individual compositions into multi-panel works and illustrated books.