The French American sculptor known as Louise Bourgeois, was more known within the 20th century. Her work was primarily depictions from her traumatic childhood. The constant themes of many of her pieces were raw depictions of sexuality and representation of her father’s infidelity. She feels most comfortable with the human anatomy and displayed it freely.
Her career as an Artist began from employment in her family’s tapestry shop as a young girl. She had a close relationship with her mother. Her role in the shop was to wash, mend, sew, and draw alongside her mother; who also managed the shop itself. In her later year, Louise sculpted a towering spider. It was named the Maman(1999). This sculpture was made in commemoration of her mother. She stated that the qualities of the spider, such as weaving, protection and helpfulness are qualities that her mother exhibited on a regular basis. In the sculpting of this 675 ft spider, she was consumed by the loss of her mother and embraced with fond childhood memories in its production process. The Maman is made from bronze, marble, and stainless steel.
The Destruction of the Father (1974)
Another well noted piece of hers is The Destruction of the Father(1974). This sculpture alone show cases a lot of her aggression towards her fathers infidelity. The arrangement of each latex sculpture is resembled to be a dinner table setting. It is noted to be an arrangement meant to exemplify revenge when her father used to gloat at the dinner table. It resembles a womb and the flesh toned colors are representations of body parts at the diner table. It shows the barbarism of his actions as a father, as a man and a husband. When this piece is displayed it is always accompanied by a low red under lighting to show more of the womb like atmosphere.
Louise Bourgeois was an important role model for Judy Chicago, who went on to create a whole home constructed of female chest anatomy. It was inspired from The Destruction of the Father. Louise’s role within the feminist community was of great importance. She was began the understanding of using both nude male and female anatomy within her body sculptures. She positioned each figure is an obscure form and allowed herself to dive freely within her sculptures. Her forms expressed fluidity within movement which was then captured by the viewer or audiences who viewed it. Her roles in body art were seen as inspiration to those within the feminist art scene. People would bring their own works to her for critique. She was known to be severely honest in the most harmful of ways. But, to have your work shown to her a large accomplishment in itself.
The Maman (1999)
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