… and it was worth it! It’s the name of an exhibition now on view at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Super interesting artist who lived to be 99 years old, born in Paris, lived in New York for 70 years married to an American. Driven by her wish to understand and express her inner-life as words were not found. She was the first female artist with an exhibition dedicated to her at MoMa, NY and that was in the 70ties. Inspiring and interesting, even more so if you listen to a guided tour.
When walking in you will meet one of her most famous sculptures, Maman. At the look of it my first reaction was disgust and revulsion.
It turns out that the spider represents something good for Mdm Bourgeois, in her mind it was linked to her mother (hence the name, Maman). Both the spider and her mom worked with mending and weaving, and both were tidy and patient. The spider can also be seen as the artist herself, creating with her own inner material.
So walking out I took a closer look at the sculpture with a totally different approach, amazed by this female artist who worked in the forefront using new materials and ways to express what she lacked words to express.
Truly worth a visit!
You can also find some of her work for sale and read more about her and her work here.
