Pirates

Lee BontecouWW-1979-096081

1979·Lithograph from seven plates and three stones in black, gray, blue, purple, and metallic silver ink on white wove paper·97 × 115.5 cm (38 1/4 × 45 1/2 in.)

In Pirates, the artist worked for the first time in offset lithography, in which the images on metal plates are first transferred (“offset”) to rubber blankets or rollers before being printed onto the paper. The most complex print she had yet attempted, Pirates required seven metal plates and three lithographic stones to produce its final, swirling image, one of what Bontecou called her “worldscapes.” The title was chosen by Bontecou’s printer; Bontecou herself resisted giving titles to her works, not wishing to influence the viewer’s interpretation.

Catalogue

Year: 1979
Medium: Lithograph from seven plates and three stones in black, gray, blue, purple, and metallic silver ink on white wove paper
Dimensions: 97 × 115.5 cm (38 1/4 × 45 1/2 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Lee Bontecou

Artist

Lee Bontecou

Sculpture

The work of abstract sculptor Lee Bontecou evades easy categorization. Although not affiliated with any artistic movement, her objects share similarities with Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism and evoke early Cubist sculpture. Her sculptures are typically defined by dark cavernous voids at their centers, and posses an industrial, seemingly mechanical aesthetic.

Providence, RI, USA

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