If you’re not a fan of eight-legged arthropods, then we suggest you steer clear of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from November 25, which is when French-American artist Louise Bourgeois’ world-famous giant sculpture, Maman, will be on display. 

Standing more than nine metres tall and 10 metres wide and made of bronze, steel and marble, the monumental spider will be hard to miss when it’s installed on the forecourt of the Art Gallery’s South Building as part of the Sydney International Art Series 2023-24. It is the first time the sculpture will be exhibited in Australia. 

First created in 1999, Maman has travelled across the globe throughout its lifetime. It’s been exhibited at London’s Tate Modern, Spain’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum and in galleries and outdoor locations in France, America, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Qatar, the list goes on. 

 

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Maman is the work of iconic French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) and the title directly translates to mother from French to English. The seminal sculpture is an ode to the artist’s mother, who she described as ‘deliberate, clever, patient, soothing…and [as] useful as a spider.’ 

The giant structure will be the first encounter gallery-goers will have of the largest and most comprehensive displays of Bourgeois’ work ever seen in the Asia Pacific. Louise Bourgeois, Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day, will showcase more than 120 of the artist’s works throughout the Art Gallery’s North Building. 

This one has our spidey senses are tingling. We think it is going to be the must-see exhibition of the summer. 

Tickets for the show will be on sale from September 6. ‘Louise Bourgeois, Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day?’ will take place from November 25, 2023, till April 28, 2024.

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Featured image: Louise Bourgeois ‘Maman’ 1999, installed during the exhibition ‘Louise Bourgeois: To Unravel a Torment’, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, 3 December 2020 – 20 June 2021 © The Easton Foundation, photo: Filipe Braga