Red Rooms

Louise Bourgeois

1996

Room Installations

Sculpture, objects

247.7 x 426.7 x 424.2 cm

This installation is made of two rooms, closed off from one another. One for the parents, and one for the children. They serve as a psychological case study, one that draws from her own childhood but also one that is confusing enough that the viewer isn’t able to draw any certain conclusions, just get a picture of her trauma and pain. The overwhelming red of the rooms and the objects in them immediately brings up a sense of blood and violence, the conclusion that this was not a happy home. There are also symbols of sexuality between the parents, and the fact that sexuality was still a mystery to the children. This kind of discomfort is used to introduce the viewer to a new environment, one that is informed by Bourgeois’ past experiences and mental struggles.

Repository: Private Collection, courtesy Hauser & Wirth

https://bourgeois.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/red-room-parents

Bourgeois_RedRooms1.jpeg (1, 2, and 3

© The Easton Foundation / VEGAP, Madrid

Luke Beemer