“Art is restoration: the idea is to repair the damages that are inflicted in life, to make something that is fragmented – which is what fear and anxiety do to a person – into something whole.”
Louise Bourgeois, born in Paris in 1911, was immersed in the world of art from a young age. Her parents ran a tapestry restoration workshop, where a young Louise would mend the faded threads of historical narratives. This experience, along with the backdrop of a tumultuous World War I, would leave a lasting mark on her artistic voice.
Bourgeois' relationship with her parents was complex, emotionally charged and led to some of her greatest pieces. Her mother, Joséphine, was often ill, leaving Louise to take on a nurturing role. Despite the difficulties Louise and her mother were extremely close and Josephine's death when Louise was just 22 left a deep wound.
Her father, Louis, was a more enigmatic patriarchal figure. He ran the family business but also indulged in affairs, most notably with the family's governess. This betrayal fueled themes of abandonment and infidelity that would become central to Bourgeois's work.
One of Bourgeois's most recognizable sculptures is "Maman," a towering bronze spider. The spider became a recurring motif in her work, and while it produces a visceral and even horrifying reaction to people who see it, Bourgeois saw the spider in a very different light... it was an embodiment of her own mother, a weaver and protective of her young. "Maman" specifically referenced her own mother, a figure both nurturing and powerful.
While Bourgeois is well known for her vast spider sculptures she was incredibly prolific across a huge range of media... not only enormous bronze statues but textiles, wood, latex marbles and prints. Sculptures like "Cell XII" and "The Pregnant Woman" explored anxieties surrounding the female body and domesticity. Through her art, Bourgeois confronted her own experiences, giving voice to universal struggles and anxieties.