Louise Bourgeois: Late Works at the Heide Museum

I went to see Louise Bourgeois’ exhibition at the Heide Museum of Modern Art. I’m a big fan of Bourgeois for the fact that there is a strong psychological element tied to her artwork. The exhibition features a selection of drawings, printmaking, sculpture, embroidery, and installations of the last 15 years of her career. What I find admirable is how Bourgeois successfully used various media as a means to deal with her personal inner traumas. An example would be her installation

Blue Days (1996) (see left) where Bourgeois used steel, cloth, and glass. Bourgeois’ artistic drive stemmed for the major part from her relationship with her father. She also explored her feelings about her mother, her identity, her anxiety and her loneliness. Some of her writings are powerful. As art was a form of catharsis for Bourgeois, she managed to deal with her inner demons in way that forever changed the contemporary art world.