Art fix

17°C, sun and heavy showers.

Tate Gallery, Liverpool.

They’re showing Egon Sheile and some other stuff from their modern collection.

This is what they said about the sculpture above:

Louise Bourgeois 1911-2010 Mamelles 1991, cast 2001

Rubber, fibreglass and wood

Mamelles is a large-scale wall relief in which a series of female breasts have been moulded within a horizontal structure reminiscent of a classical frieze. The breasts can be seen as a symbol of woman’s nurturing role, while also exposing the female body as a sexualised object, stripped bare and vulnerable. Bourgeois has linked this work to the mythical seducer Don Juan, and said that it ’portrays a man who lives off the woman he courts, making his way from one to the next. Feeding from them but returning nothing, he loves only in a consumptive and seltish manner.’

So, there you have it.

The main point of the trip was to see Egon Scheile. Although the show was mixed with phots by Francesca Woodman, there was structure to it. Panels were laid out roughly chronologically so adjacent worksspoke together. Early drawings had delicacy precision and passion all at once. Thefine line precision was almost lkike silverpoint drawing. It took time to read these pictures. I’m writing thisas a pseson who first saw Scheile’s work in the mid 1980s. This visit was a top-up meant as a motivator for me. I have barely drawn over the last 4 years or so.