STOCKHOLM.- The American Friends of the Moderna Museet acquires ”Pisser Triptych” by Louise Bonnet on the eve of the opening days of the Venice Biennale 2022. This new large-scale triptych was commissioned for the main exhibition ”The Milk of Dreams”.

Louise Bonnet is one of 213 artists selected by curator Cecilia Alemani for the Venice Biennale’s main show “The Milk of Dreams” and her absurdist, discomfiting canvases seem like a natural fit for an exhibition named after a book by Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. Her large-scale triptych, reminiscent of an altarpiece, will have a prominent location in the middle of the Corderie dell’Arsenale.

The figures that populate Louise Bonnet’s paintings walk a line between beauty and ugliness, between absurdist, knockabout comedy and extreme psychological and physiological tension. Inhabiting sparse, eerie landscapes and boxed in by the edges of the canvas they act out dramas of profound discomfort that plumb the depths of the artist’s subconscious.

–It is an incredible honor to see my work enter the illustrious collection of Moderna Museet, which includes several key works that were seminal in my own understanding of art, including Niki de Saint Phalle's "The Paradise", Salvador Dali's "The Enigma of Wilhelm Tell", and Louise Bourgeois' "Janus Fleuri", says Louise Bonnet.

In ”Pisser Triptych”, Bonnet finds rich territory in the idea that while we may believe that we’re in control of our bodies, they're constantly betraying us—failing, cramping, or leaking bodily fluids like urine, saliva, blood, or milk. In this work, urine shapeshifts, symbolizing health and prosperity, semen and holy water, and, perhaps most importantly, the absurdity of our disgust and shame at our own bodies.

Louise Bonnet’s ”Pisser Triptych”, 2021-2022 is a donation from The American Friends of the Moderna Museet to the museum in Stockholm with generous support from Christine and Richard Mack, Åke and Caisa Skeppner, Misha and Anna Moeremans d’Emaus, and The Firestorm Foundation.

–This acquisition will further position the American Friends of the Moderna Museet as an important force in the art world, and the Moderna Museet as an ambitious collecting art institution with fingerspitz gefühl. The foundation has already acquired a number of works by leading contemporary women artists. We are happy to also see Simone Leigh, Amy Sillman, and Christina Quarles on view at this year’s Venice Biennale, says Helena Skarstedt, President of The American Friends of the Moderna Museet.

Moderna Museet has invested in research and acquisition projects focusing on women modernists from a gender-oriented art history perspective, and specific initiatives have been created to ensure Moderna Museet’s ability to acquire key works by leading contemporary artists.

–Louise Bonnet’s impressive triptych is a powerful and thought provoking work of art. The American Friends together with passionate donors have empowered the museum to expand its collection like few other museums in Europe. We are proud to include ”Pisser Triptych” in the Moderna Museet collection”, says Gitte Ørskou, Director of the Moderna Museet.

The American Friends of the Moderna Museet is a U.S.-based public charity founded in 2007 to support and develop the Moderna Museet collection. Louise Bonnet was born 1970 in Geneva Switzerland and lives and works in Los Angeles. The 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia takes place from April 23 to November 27, 2022.