Louise Bourgeois, one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century, is the subject of the solo exhibition Louise Bourgeois x Jenny Holzer: The Violence of Handwriting Across a Page, on view from February 19 through May 15, 2022, at the Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland. Curated by the American contemporary artist Jenny Holzer, the exhibition presents Bourgeois’ extensive oeuvre as seen through Holzer’s eyes. Holzer, who utilizes language as a primary medium in her work, examines the ways in which writing helped alleviate Bourgeois’ childhood trauma. Presented across the nine galleries of the Kunstmuseum Basel’s ‘Neubau’ (new building), the hallway connecting the ‘Hauptbau’ (main building) and the Neubau, and the façade of the museum, this comprehensive exhibition brings together Bourgeois’ drawings and sculptures, along with excerpts from her writings as carefully selected by Holzer.

This unprecedented encounter between two of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries begins in the Neubau. Bourgeois’ lifelong obsession over writing allowed text to remain a crucial form of her expression. Throughout the course of her psychoanalysis, which began in 1951 soon after her father’s death, Bourgeois wrote extensively, exploring the depths of her inner mind. Her writings, which describe underlying emotions and impulses, are interweaved through Bourgeois’ multifaceted practice; text is seen embroidered on fabric including underpants and handkerchiefs, stamped on lead plaques, and incorporated into selected works from her installation series, Cell.

Installed in the hallway between the Neubau and Hauptbau is Bourgeois’ monumental installation, Twosome (1991). Taking the form of a railroad tank car moving back and forth on a track, Twosome embodies the tensions and dynamics between opposing concepts—including mother and child, male and female, inside and outside. The presentation extends outdoors; from February 16 to 22, 2022, excerpts from Bourgeois’ writing were projected onto the façades of Basel’s City Hall (Rathaus), the Old University (Alte Universität) on the Rhine, and the Kunstmuseum’s Hauptbau. These texts will further be displayed on the façade of the Kunstmuseum’s Neubau for the remaining duration of the show. Also accompanying Louise Bourgeois x Jenny Holzer: The Violence of Handwriting Across a Page is an eponymous catalog published by JRP | Editions, as well as an Augmented Reality App developed by the London-based creative innovation studio Holition, providing an immersive and multisensory experience of the works on view (available on-site only).