The internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Louis Bourgeois is the subject of a solo exhibition titled Louise Bourgeois: To Unravel a Torment at the Museum Voorlinden through May 5, 2020. Widely renowned for her works built on autobiographical experiences, Bourgeois explored a wide range of genres including sculpture, drawing, installation, and sewing, cultivating a distinct oeuvre which transcended prevailing aesthetics and art historical narrative. The exhibition, which marks the first comprehensive retrospective for the artist to be held in the Netherlands in nearly three decades, introduces over 40 works that shed light onto her artistic experimentation and innovation. 

Standing on the grounds of Voorlinden towards the entrance of the museum is Maman (1999), the largest of Bourgeois’ famous spiders, which reminisces on memories of her mother. Upon entering the gallery, the viewer encounters one of Bourgeois’ early masterpieces, The Destruction of the Father (1974), which expresses the artist’s resistance against her dictatorial father and the toxic patriarchy that consumed her family, by highlighting gender differences through the juxtaposition of the male penis and the female breast created with latex and plaster. The sculpture series Personage (1940-1950s) serves not only as a figurative representation of friends and family the artist had to leave behind when she moved from France to New York, but also as a metaphor for the fear and emptiness she felt as a wife, mother, and young artist during that time. Meanwhile, the exhibition stays relevant to the audience regardless of their age and background by presenting a wide breadth of works including Bourgeois’ theatrical installation series Cells, which depicts the paradoxical meaning of “home” as a place of both haven and suppression.