Louise LeBourgeois: Light Through Water

"My water/sky paintings explore the idea that we are in uncharted terriroty, propelled towards the unknown by discovery and innovation."
—Louise LeBourgeois

Light Through Water spotlights Lake Michigan—a longtime source of personal and artistic inspiration for LeBourgeois—at different times of day and under different weather conditions. To achieve naturalistic descriptions of her subject, LeBourgeois tightly renders the lake’s surface using a series of delicate brushes. Painted on panel, the smooth and glossy surface quality of her paintings enhances the precision and exactitude of her strokes. Waves are adeptly depicted in various states of activity, from an almost glass-like stillness to rippling animation and churning tumult. As atmospheric conditions play a central role in affecting the character of the lake, her paintings are as much about sky as they are about water.

Louise LeBourgeois was born in New Orleans, LA, in 1969. She earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1990 followed by her MFA from Northwestern University. In addition to exhibiting nationally and internationally, LeBourgeois’s art can be found in numerous public and private collections including the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the McKesson Corporation in San Francisco. A faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, LeBourgeois has received an Artadia Grant, was awarded residencies at the BAU Institute in Otranto, Italy and at the Ragdale Foundation, and earned a commission from the 17th District Police Station in Chicago.

This catalogue was published on the occasion of LeBourgeois's exhibition, Light Through Water, February 2–25, 2012. It includes essays by the artist and Karen Halvorzen Schreck, author of three novels and winner of the Pushcart Prize, among others.

24 pages. 12 color plates. Softcover. 2012.