Abstract Erotic: Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, Alice Adams

Baffling exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of work by three female artists of the late 20th century.

I found the concept of the "abstract erotic" wasn’t well explained and got confused with the idea of "eccentric abstraction" both coined by American art critic Lucy Lippard. As far as I can tell both involved the use of unex
cepted materials and often took a sensual approach to abstraction. The first room contained works by all three artists to illustrate this.

The second room devoted a section to each artists, Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Alice Adams, with an overview of their career and was more approachable.

Closed 14 September 2025

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