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Louise Bourgeois, Cell (Black Days) (2006)
steel, fabric, rubber, glass, wood, marble, thread


Never-before-seen work by the late artist Louise Bourgeois

Best-known for her huge spider sculpture, the artist's retrospective in Iceland presents unseen work from her seventy-year career

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During her prolific seventy-year career, Louise Bourgeois’ installations, sculptures, drawings and material-works focussed upon notions of fear, anxiety, jealousy and love. Many of her works have taken the form of strange, organic sculptures which, while resembling parts of the body, avoid definition due to their ambiguous, amorphous appearance.

One of Bourgeois’ most well-known works is the huge 35ft-high spider sculpture Maman, and despite its fearsome appearance, the spider is a loving tribute to the artist's mother, who was a tapestry maker.

The imposing image of a spider appears again, alongside 27 other works including her installation piece Cell (Black Days) (2006), which is displayed for the first time in Femme, the latest exhibition of Bourgeois’ work at The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík (until 11 September).

Read more about the exhibition.


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Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth and Cheim & Read, Photo credit: Christopher Burke