Harlan & Weaver is pleased to announce the publication of Louise Bourgeois, 2008, a photogravure print of the artist’s hands. 

Louise Bourgeois, 2008, originated with a drypoint begun in 2003, at a time when Bourgeois was beginning to explore the traced hand as subject.  In order to demonstrate specific placement of her hands in the composition, Bourgeois carefully rested them on a working proof of the image, insistent on the overlap of her middle finger and thumb.  She referenced the touching fingers as “the point of contact.”  Felix Harlan took a photograph, intending to use it as direction for correcting lines in the copper.  Though the drypoint was never completed, the photograph remained an indelible image and was subsequently made into a photogravure plate.  The resultant print is visual documentation of the dialogue between artist and printer, and is evidence of the way Bourgeois and Harlan have worked together over the years.  

Louise Bourgeois, 2008, provides insight to the artist’s process, and reflects the recurring use of hands in her work in a unique, intimate portrait.