Guggenheim museum bilbao spider

Standing in front of the giant spider art work at the Guggenheim Bilbao museum I shiver.

Over a career that spanned some seven decades, Louise Bourgeois created a rich and ever-changing body of work that intersected with some of the leading avant-garde movements of the 20th century, including Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Post-Minimalism, while remaining steadfast to her own singular creative vision. While Bourgeois's oeuvre includes painting, drawing, printmaking, and performance, she is best known for her sculptures, which range in scale from the intimate to the monumental and employ a diverse array of mediums, including wood, bronze, latex, marble, and fabric. Her work is at once deeply personal—with frequent references to painful childhood memories of an unfaithful father and a loving but complicit mother—and universal, confronting the bittersweet ordeal of being human. Almost 9 meters tall, Maman is one of the most ambitious of a series of sculptures by Bourgeois that take as their subject the spider, a motif that first appeared in several of the artist's drawings in the s and came to assume a central place in her work during the s. Intended as a tribute to her mother, who was a weaver, Bourgeois's spiders are highly contradictory as emblems of maternity: they suggest both protector and predator—the silk of a spider is used both to construct cocoons and to bind prey—and embody both strength and fragility. Such ambiguities are powerfully figured in the mammoth Maman , which hovers ominously on legs like Gothic arches that act at once as a cage and as a protective lair to a sac full of eggs perilously attached to her undercarriage. The spider provokes awe and fear, yet her massive height, improbably balanced on slender legs, conveys an almost poignant vulnerability.

Guggenheim museum bilbao spider

Maman is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture in several locations by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which depicts a spider , is among the world's largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide x x cm. The title is the familiar French word for Mother akin to Mummy or Mommy. Bourgeois chose the Modern Art Foundry to cast the sculpture because of its reputation and work. The sculpture picks up the theme of the arachnid that Bourgeois had first contemplated in a small ink and charcoal drawing in , continuing with her sculpture Spider. The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever.

As to the spider I agree giving it reference as to the size is challenging. We had so much fun and Dave and I learned a lot about what was in our own city.

She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration , and my mother was in charge of the workshop. 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.

The giant spider artwork is made from stainless steel, bronze, and marble. Bourgeois delved deeper and more profoundly into the recesses of personal emotion than possibly any other artist of her period across a large work spanning more than 60 years. Her art is both broad and very personal in its portrayal of the psyche, with frequent, clear references to terrible childhood recollections of an immoral father and a caring but passive mother. But who was Louise Bourgeois , and what drove her to make her art? Her unwavering commitment to communication, both as a creator and as a guide to new artists, earned Bourgeois widespread fame that has endured, most notably via her influence on the creation of installation and conceptual art. These themes are inspired by incidents from her upbringing, for which she saw painting as a healing or cathartic procedure. Through the use of mythical and archetypal iconography, Bourgeois translated her encounters into a very individualized symbolic imagery, employing things such as swirls, arachnids, cages, surgical equipment, and sewed appendages to represent the feminine mind, beauty, and mental agony.

Guggenheim museum bilbao spider

Maman is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture in several locations by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which depicts a spider , is among the world's largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide x x cm. The title is the familiar French word for Mother akin to Mummy or Mommy. Bourgeois chose the Modern Art Foundry to cast the sculpture because of its reputation and work.

Para bellum tattoo

It is part of a series of works that take the spider as their subject or motif. This tour includes all the works and informative texts present in the exhibition. The works in this tour are but a few examples of fascinating art. Learn how your comment data is processed. This article does contains affiliate links. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Liesbet I am so touched by your description of the feelings you experienced reading the post about Maman. Article Talk. Sounds like you love exploring in search of special art. Beauty in the ye of the beholder I assume.

Over a career that spanned some seven decades, Louise Bourgeois created a rich and ever-changing body of work that intersected with some of the leading avant-garde movements of the 20th century, including Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Post-Minimalism, while remaining steadfast to her own singular creative vision.

This visit was prior to her death in Linda Arthur Tejera. Tate, London. The giant spider sculpture reflects both protector and predator. Imagine the size of the broom you would need to get it off the ceiling. There are others in Tokyo, London and Ottawa to name a few. I guess it would depend on what the photograph was for…. Very interesting and definitely an attention getter! Dimensions x x cm. Kind of disappointing actually. Nice feature on the Giant Spider at the Guggenheim Bilbao.