Artist Louis Bourgeois
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Bourgeois died today at age 98. This article from Suzanne Muchnic of the LA Times was instructive to me:
"Bourgeois often left viewers with questions about the meaning of her work, but made no secret of painful experiences that shaped it. The spiders---including 'Maman,' a 35-foot-tall piece commissioned for the inauguration of the Tate Modern gallery in London in 2000---are a tribute to her beloved mother, whom she described as a pillar of inner strength who was 'clever, patient and neat as a spider.'
"Her father, whom the artist perceived an a domineering philanderer, didn't fare so well. In 'The Destruction of the Father'---a 1974 installation . . . ---Bourgeois re-created a youthful fantasy of her father being dismembered and devoured by his family.
"'She smashed a taboo,' said Christopher Knight, The Times' art critic. 'Bourgeois was the first modern artist to expose the emotional depth and power of domestic subject matter. Before her, male artists had only nibbled around the edges, and women just weren't allowed.'"
Here's one of her drawings, which I quite like:
But an embarrassing confession: I have, all these years, been conflating Louise Bourgeois and Louise Nevelson [her sculpture is below]:
Bourgeois died today at age 98. This article from Suzanne Muchnic of the LA Times was instructive to me:
"Bourgeois often left viewers with questions about the meaning of her work, but made no secret of painful experiences that shaped it. The spiders---including 'Maman,' a 35-foot-tall piece commissioned for the inauguration of the Tate Modern gallery in London in 2000---are a tribute to her beloved mother, whom she described as a pillar of inner strength who was 'clever, patient and neat as a spider.'
"Her father, whom the artist perceived an a domineering philanderer, didn't fare so well. In 'The Destruction of the Father'---a 1974 installation . . . ---Bourgeois re-created a youthful fantasy of her father being dismembered and devoured by his family.
"'She smashed a taboo,' said Christopher Knight, The Times' art critic. 'Bourgeois was the first modern artist to expose the emotional depth and power of domestic subject matter. Before her, male artists had only nibbled around the edges, and women just weren't allowed.'"
Here's one of her drawings, which I quite like:
But an embarrassing confession: I have, all these years, been conflating Louise Bourgeois and Louise Nevelson [her sculpture is below]:
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6:53 PM
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