Louise Bourgeois

For this project I traveled to the MOMA in NY and visited the exhibit by Louise Bourgeois, a French born artist. She is best known for her large scale sculptures but she also does amazing self portraits about her life. Born in Paris in 1911 she started drawing at a young age trying to help out with her families tapestry business. She often drew patterns for what she thought the tapestries were missing. Later on she married Robert Goldwater, an American art historian and they moved to NY and raised three sons. Bourgeois died in New York in 2010, at the age of 98.

Bourgeois claims the title as "one of America’s most distinguished contemporary artists." Art to Bourgeois was like an escape from reality. In her artwork she was able to express herself and really come alive. She once said, "Art is a guarantee of sanity.” 

In this photograph to the left, Bourgeois met with Andy Warhol. Like Warhol, Bourgeois also did print work. Most of her early work included print and paintings. At age 70, she had the opportunity to have her work displayed at MOMA where she began doing bigger sculptures and cages.

(10 am is When You Come to Me Series)

(Spider)

 The Spider series of large sculptures are one of Bourgeois' most famous sculptures and is a recurring motif present in her artwork. To Bourgeois the spider represents, "a stand-in for her mother, a tapestry restorer by trade who impressed Bourgeois with her steadfast reliability and clever inventiveness. Yet Bourgeois also appreciated the spider in more general terms, as a protector against evil, pointing out that this crafty arachnid is known for devouring mosquitoes and thereby preventing disease."

 Some recurring themes presented in Bourgeois' work include: loneliness, jealousy, anger, sexuality, the body and fear. She often found herself lonely and abandoned, especially by her father. At age three her father went to war in WW1 and she felt as though he kept abandoning her through out her life. Her father and her had an estranged relationship and she blamed him for many things. She was most angry at him for having an affair with an English tutor who lived in their home for a short time and his infidelity remained in her head for most of her life. She felt betrayed by what he did to her family and often wanted to reconnect with him through her artwork. In the BBC series by John Berger he says, "...women is blamed and is punished by being made subservient to the man. In relation to the woman, the man becomes the agent of god," (p. 48). This quote relates to the relationship Bourgeois and her father shared. Even though her father is the one who broke the family apart by having the affair, Bourgeois seems to be the most hurt by his actions and this is something that stays with her throughout her entire life. 

(Do Not Abandon Me)

(I Redo)

 



It is because of all her experiences with her father that she often paints with him in mind. Her next series of paintings titled "Do Not Abandon Me," depict a mother giving birth to her child who attached to her at the umbilical cord however the mother and child are actually a representation of her and her father. In this series she paints how alone she feels and the mental isolation she often finds herself in. In her artwork she displays herself feeing lost and without guidance. 

Another series titled Self-Portrait is a series of paintings that connect Bourgeois to the creation of life and what life means to her. The paintings reflect a man and a woman and their child they created. They represent her and her parents. Children are the continuation of life and without them there would be no future. The shift in faces depict different moods and the man is painted with a stronger face. This is because according to Bourgeois, "The strong figure on the right is the father, and the softer figure on the left is the mother. And there, in between, this creature appears. It is simply a self-portrait. A self-portrait with a certain attitude, of course, the attitude being... well, I don't know if I am ugly, repulsive, or if I am unwelcome. But, to tell you the truth, it's not my fault. It's the fault, or the credit, of the parents. But one thing for certain is that I have to feel—in order to be a decent person—that my parents are on my side. They do not criticize me; they don't find me ugly. They seem to endorse me, for better or for worse." 

The series of Self-Portraits relate to Chapter three of The Art of Self Invention by Joanne Finkelstein when Finkelstein says, "Thus we are shaped by the circumstances of birth and have no control over our parentage, but we can, if we desire, make ourselves in our own image by employing the wide range of products and services designed for self-products and services designed for self-cnchancement that are available in the consumer market place," (p. 126). 

I really enjoyed this exhibition and connected with Bourgeois. Her artwork is very original and personal to her life. The artwork in this exhibit is deep and carries a lot of meaning.
I believe this artist and the curator are expressing to the audience the pain and ugliness of life. Often artist depict how beautiful life is and express happiness. However, through Bourgeois work one can feel her pain and isolation and connect with and empathize with her. Life is beautiful, but it is also dark, and lonely at times.

*For more information about Louise Bourgeois follow these websites:

Bourgeois at MOMA
Biography on Bourgeois
NY Times article on Bourgeois and her artwork
Collection of artwork by Bourgeois