Louise Bourgeois - Work - Pervasive Themes

Pervasive Themes

1) Childhood Trauma & Hidden Emotion

After Louise's mother became sick with influenza Louise's father began having affairs with other women, most notably with Sadie, Louise's English tutor. Louise was extremely watchful and aware of the situation. This was the beginning of the artists' engagement with double standards related to gender and sexuality, which also comes out in much of her work as discussed below. She recalls her father saying "I love you" repeatedly to her mother despite infidelity. "He was the wolf, and she was the rational hare, forgiving and accepting him as he was." Page text.

Consider the following works in light of this theme:

The Destruction of the Father (1974)

Cell-Chiosy (1990-First of the Cell Series)

Cell: You Better Grow Up (1993) This a piece within Louise's cell series. This speaks directly to Louise's childhood trauma and the insecurity that surrounded her.

Red Room—Parents (1994)

The Woven Child (2002)

Give or Take (2002) - Hidden emotion defines this piece, it represents the intense dilemma that people face throughout their lives as they attempt to balance the actions of giving and taking. This dilemma is not only represented by the shape of the sculpture, but also the heaviness of the material this piece is made of.

2) Architecture & Memory

Architecture and memory are important components of Bourgeois' work. In numerous interviews, Louise described architecture as a visual expression of memory, or memory as a type of architecture. The memory which is featured in much of her work is an invented memory - about the death or exorcism of her father. The imagined memory is interwoven with her real memories including; living across from a slaughterhouse, visiting her father at the front and her father's affair. To Louise her father represented injury and war, aggrandizement of himself and belittlement of others and most importantly a man who represented betrayal. Page text.

Consider the following works in light of this theme:

The Destruction of the Father (1974)

Cell (Three White Marble Spheres) (1993) This piece is from Louise Bourgeois' Cell Series. It certainly speaks to fear and captivity. The mirrors within the present an altered and distorted reality.

Maman (1999)

3) Sexuality and fragility

Sexuality is undoubtedly one of the most important themes of Louise Bourgeois' work. The link between sexuality and fragility or insecurity is also powerful. One might argue that this stems from her childhood memories and her father's affairs.

Consider the following works in light of this theme:

Spiral Woman (1952) This piece combines Louise's focus on female sexuality and torture. The flexing leg and arm muscles indicate that the Spiral Woman is still above though she is being suffocated and hung.

Fillette (1968)

Fragile Goddess (1970)

Sainte Sebastienne (1992) Bougeois. After having read this quote "The personal themes of loneliness, anxiety, sexual tension, and jealousy have preoccupied Bourgeois since her early years as an artist and continue to find expression in her sculpture, installations, and prints." Page text.

In and Out (1995) The connection between this piece and LB's focus on sexuality is clear from the first glance. The cold metal materials used link sexuality with anger and perhaps even captivity rather than with passion or love.

The Couple (2002)