Destruction of the father reconstruction of the father - Louise Bourgeois

edited by Marie-Laure Bernadac and Hans-Ulrich Obrist"Everyday you have
to abandon your past or accept it and then if youcannot accept it, you become a
sculptor."Since the age of twelve, the internationally renowned sculptor
LouiseBourgeois has been writing and drawing ;first a diary preciselyrecounting the
everyday events of her family life, then notes andreflections. Destruction of the
Father ;the title comes fromthe name of a sculpture she did following the death of
her husband in1973 ;contains both formal texts and what the artist
calls"pen-thoughts": drawing-texts often connected to her drawings andsculptures,
with stories or poems inscribed alongside the images.Writing is a means of
expression that has gained increasing importancefor Bourgeois, particularly during
periods of insomnia. The writing iscompulsive, but it can also be perfectly
controlled, informed by herintellectual background, knowledge of art history, and
sense ofliterary form (she has frequently published articles on artists,exhibitions,
and art events). Bourgeois, a private woman "withoutsecrets," has given numerous
interviews to journalists, artists, andwriters, expressing her views on her oeuvre,
revealing its hiddenmeanings, and relating the connection of certain works to the
traumasof her childhood. This book collects both her writings and her spokenremarks
on art, confirming the deep links between her work and herbiography and offering new
insights into her creative process.