Lee Bontecou

Lee Bontecou, Untitled 1962 welded steel, wood and canvas construction 

Lee Bontecou began constucting three dimensional works extending out of two dimensional canvases during the 1960s. Her works during this time reflect the period of unrest for people standing up for equality, the Cold War, protesting against the Vietnam War, and horrible atrocities everywhere were finally watched for the first time with the ever growing use of the television. Her works reflect this period and they appear cold similar to machineary. Her conceptual works are like Harmony Hammonds works. They both want to provide viewers their interpretations of the world around them. Although, Harmony’s work reflect equality and feminism. Bontecou’s works don’t interpret equality and are feminist in appearance. They are dark reflecting in the dark side of society. Bontecou works are never titled because she believes viewers need to find their own meaning without the aide of a title in her conceptual designs.

For me in this present age, they remind me of industrial mixed with technological qualitites. They appear almost like parts of space craft, but in compositions. The work Untitled from 1962 has the appearance of the back of a jet that is about to blast fire.  It is made with an armature of welded steel, she then add canvas on various parts with copper wire. The stichting is roughly sewn to hold the canvas with the welded steel. The exposure of the wires give the compositions a rectangular patterns. She uses neutral colors of browns mixed with gray and she adds black to parts in the middle to make it look lifeless like metal machinery. Parts of the armatute stick out stretching the canvas tightly to mold into these metal like parts.

Lee Bontecou, Untitled, 1960, fabric, copper wire and welded steel

Another of Lee’s canvas Untitled created in 1960s doesn't extend out as the one stated above. This earlier work reflects on the pattern of the stitching as it spriral haphazardly into this dark black hole in the middle. Also made with tan and gray like materials, it has a lifeless, but mesmerizing like qualities. It reminds me of stain glass but with parts of canvases sewn individually onto the armature.

Lee Bontecou, Untitled, 1966, welded steel/canvas/
epoxy/leather/wire/light, 78 x 119 x 31"

This piece is much larger than her previous ones. Untitled from 1966, is a beautiful piece, but isn't as cold as the other two. Her hints of orange and whites mixes well with the pattern of black patched around several places in the compostition. It has a light quality like it could fly because of the fan like armature projecting from the right side. It also looks like it glows with the gallery light hitting the orange.

Her works during the 1960s had this quality of canvases projecting out in various places. Her conceptual works gave a cold dark meaning to the viewer while giving them this beautiful machine like quality.   They became her trademark until the 1970s when she had children and changed her medium.