The visceral abject

Three historic women artists — Kiki Smith, Louise Bourgeois, and Doris Salcedo — depict the human and animal form in ways that jarr the viewer into revelation: the abject. Kiki Smith’s From Heart to Hand plays on the grotesque, but titled to evoke relationships — perhaps of one’s own heart and hand or of those around us. Louis Bourgeois’ sculptures and drawing are discomforting, but formally striking, while Doris Salcedo’s capture of the trace of the human is haunting.