Artist Rooms: Louise Bourgeois, A Woman Without Secrets

We recently took a trip to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art with the college. The exhibition we were visiting was a collection of works by the late French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. Her subject matter involved topics including childbirth, adolescence, mothering and various emotions.
I had no previous knowledge of Bourgeois or her work upon attending the exhibition, and so was intrigued and interested in what I was going to see.

After spending around an hour and a half slowly taking in the paintings and sculptures I had chosen one piece that specifically stuck out for me.

Ode a la Bievre, 2002

This was made by Bourgeois as a material book, based upon her memories and melancholic relationship with her childhood environment. These individual pieces reflect upon what her home town was once like, and how she remembers it. It was triggered by a visit she took with her own children to Bievre, on arrival she began to notice differences in certain surroundings, she has managed to convey her very sentimental reaction to this change through 25 archival dyed and lithographed images. They were completed using old clothing and combining text with an interesting collection of colours and images, Bourgeois has achieved an inventive piece of art very personal to herself. "witnessing the past through the present moment" Is how she put it.

I very much enjoyed the exhibition and will be returning before it's end as I feel I can learn a lot from this particular artist.