Eye Benches II 1997

Louise Bourgeois has created these Eye Benches, and what I see are two humongous marble eyeballs staring back at us. I can imagine her working on them for months in the studio. The first time I saw these sculptures, I wondered, ‘What are they looking at?’ Maybe it is more about being looked at. I think Bourgeois is making an appeal to our inner life, asking us to open our eyes and consider our most intimate selves. The bench is a support, but also a stage for our internal drama. Bourgeois did all sorts of sculpture, installation and drawing in her long career. She created the spider sculptures, which are similar, but these eyes are so much more intimate. She is an example of how an artist can push their practice through many different avenues to become better over a lifetime of creative work.