Jo Applin on Louise Bourgeois
In Episode 22 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the world-renowned feminist art historian, Dr Jo Applin, on the legendary, LOUISE BOURGEOIS !!!\n\nBorn as early as 1911 and living for nearly ONE HUNDRED years, Louise Bourgeois was a visionary. One of the most important artists ever to exist, in this episode we deep dive into her extraordinary life and pioneering work, that marked a shift in art, forever.\xa0\n\nKnown for her large-scale sculptures and cell-like installations, as well as paintings, drawings, sculptures and more, Louise Bourgeois began\xa0her artistic practice in her native Paris. Originally associated with\xa0Surrealism\xa0due to her integration of fantastic elements into her prints and sculptures, when she moved to NYC in 1938, Louise began to focus on sculpture: creating biomorphic forms that enact the physicality of the body.\xa0\n\nWhilst the 40s saw her experiment with her 'Personages' sculptures and paintings reminiscent of the female in the domestic space, the 60s saw her move into\xa0suggestive organ-like works using unconventional materials \u2013 from resin, latex, and\xa0cloth\xa0\u2013 to\xa0allude to a tension between quintessentially male and female forms.\n\nWith the 70s marking a cultural shift in feminist ideas, Louise started to garner recognition, which was cemented by a major retrospective at MoMA in 1982. The last few decades saw her create her most iconic and most experimental: the giant spiders \u2013 which we discuss in great detail (in particular the\xa0Dia: Beacon exhibit) \u2013 and cells, which capture Bourgeois's quietly screaming psyche in way that has never before been documented.\xa0\n\nI LOVED recording this episode with Jo Applin \u2013 one day prior to lockdown! Jo is also the\xa0Head of the History of Art department at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Focussing on American art since 1960, her research addresses questions of abstraction, ageing, eccentricity, feminism, sexuality, and subjectivity.\xa0\n\nThank you for listening!!\n\nThis episode is sponsored by Alighieri\xa0\nhttps://alighieri.co.uk/\n@alighieri_jewellery\n\nFollow us:\nKaty Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel\nSound editing by Amber Miller (@amber_m.iller)\nArtwork by @thisisaliceskinner\nMusic by Ben Wetherfield\n\nhttps://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/