Maman: the mother of all spiders
PHOTO BY Jean-Francois Jaussaud/The Easton Foundation/VAGA/ARS
Maman is the name given to the 30ft high, marble, bronze and stainless steel sculpture of a spider.
Created by the French artist, Louise Bourgeois, this scuLPTURE is a towering marvel. It is now a permanent feature at locations across the world, UK, Canada, Spain, South Korea, Japan, USA and Qatar. But what does it mean?
"Maman" means "Mommy" in French. And fittingly, this sculpture is about Bourgeois's mother, the two were very close, Louise describes her mother as being subtle, powerful and useful as well as being her best friend. Her mother was a weaver and extremely intelligent.
Tragically when Bourgeois was 21, her mother died. She was heartbroken and remained so until she too passed away, this grief and longing is present in much of her work.
An analysis of the work:
The spider spends the majority of it's life weaving intricate, beautiful webs. These webs, invisible in the daylight, are rarely appreciated, most often they are considered bothersome or creepy. We could say the same about the labour of the mother. Both, spiders and mothers, work tirelessly despite the common lack of recognition. In fact, recognition is not the point at all, they work because that is what they do.
The single spider is insignificant, her mother an insignificant weaver in life was not a recognized artists, she died relatively young. Perhaps this is what Bourgeois explores, by enlarging the tiny spider she creates a significance for it, and thus her mother too.
PHOTO BY Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa
The sculpture is an obviously feminine object, not only does it represent a mother, it is a mother as well. The spider has a sack of white eggs, she is not alone. There are more of her to come. Perhaps this is why the sculptures are so ominous to many, not only the creature which is a commonly feared one, now made 30 ft tall, but the added fear of whats to come. The acknowledgement that this huge creature has the ability to create more of itself is terrifying. Perhaps that has something to do with motherhood as well...
To me, maman captures something essentially true about mothers. These great, intimidating forces whose work we can never truly understand, these beings able to duplicate themselves with grace. Who work thanklessly and delicately. Who are feared and revered and loved fully despite their possible bite. To stand underneath one of these great sculptures must be incredible, to see the details and effort put into something so large must be inspiring. I hope we all get to experience that one day soon.
If you are interested in Bourgeois and her work, check out the YouTube videos linked below.
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