Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) has the status as one of the most eminent and provocative artists of all time. Bourgeois’ sculptures are inspiring generations of future female artists for whom she set a precedent.
Bourgeois became notorious in the artistic sphere for her feminine structures and imposing metallic spiders. Her largest, and most famous sculpture named Maman (1999) popped up in various locations around the world, causing controversy and admiration wherever it appeared. Looming at over 30ft, the sculpture with its seventeen marble eggs is emotionally aggressive. Talking to the Tate, she explained: ‘This spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.’
Bourgeois blended artistic mediums with her personal conflicts and traumas and spoke publicly and freely of her early, emotionally conflicted family life: her childhood, which never lost its magic, never lost its mystery, and never lost its drama.’ The emotional investment in her work was certainly unique and groundbreaking within the art industry. Drawing on her years of psychoanalysis, Bourgeois played with art and reality with daring. Among others, contemporary art therapists and their patients owe much to Bourgeois’ pioneering work.
From an article by Charlotte Chorley
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