Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York, NY 2008

Last month, I went to the Guggenheim Museum in NYC to see the exhibit of French artist and sculptor, Louise Bourgeois. I became interested in her work when a director at my job, Juan Delcan, created a piece inspired by and dedicated to the artist -- aptly titled "The Spider".

In the lobby stood a sculpture of two spiders about 25-feet tall (above). Bourgeois chose to create spiders because they are representative to her mother, who Bourgeois remembers fondly. Also in the lobby hung two silver, cocoon-like shapes (below). If memory serves me correctly, she was fond of this shape because one can start inside and spiral-out or start on the outside and spiral-in.


Louise Bourgeois at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York, NY 2008

These were the only two installations where photographs were permitted, but the rest of the exhibit showed her views on family life, sexuality, and why certain shapes were important. For example, she sculpted pieces with a racks parallel lines given the beauty that they will never touch. Some had a horizontal piece across the top, perhaps to demonstrate this concept. However, I (sadly) lack the artful eye to look at pieces with such profundity, and the audio tour was extremely helpful in brining these elements to my attention.

The Louise Bourgeois exhibit is at the Guggenheim through September. While it took me about 2 hours to see everything I wanted, you can add or subtract time according to your needs. I recommend visiting the exhibit to have a look through the walk of life of this artist. Bourgeois is about 97-years-old now, has created work up until 2004, and has a wealth of stories to offer.