Suspended from the ceiling or positioned in vitrines at the Hayward Gallery, her fabric figures – largely of female bodies – suggest states of abandonment or abjection. Bourgeois also repeatedly returned to the form of the spider, a symbol of protection and entrapment that she associated with her mother, a weaver and tapestry restorer. The exhibition will include Spider (1997), which incorporates fragments of antique tapestry, while the related Lady in Waiting (2003) – one of her monumental Cells series – includes nightwear and dresses. Her use of such fabrics ‘imbues her late sculptures with a striking sense of intimacy, vulnerability and mortality,’ says Hayward Gallery director Ralph Rugoff.
Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child sums up this inventive and compelling final chapter in this extraordinary artist’s work.