THE BRILLIANT, ICONOCLASTIC LOUISE BOURGEOIS, now 96 and surely the grande dame of the art world, will have a full-career retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum simultaneously with the premiere of this riveting documentary portrait. Co-directed by Marion Cajori and Amei Wallach, the movie records Bourgeois at work and play, fashioning art in her studio and ruminating upon the deep emotional and psychological roots of her work. Bourgeois’s massive spiders, some as large as 30 feet, have been exhibited throughout the world. They symbolize the maternal impulse, but it is the artist’s passionate connection with various childhood traumas (her father’s live-in mistress being just one) that fuel much of her groundbreaking work. Critic/curators Robert Storr and Deborah Wye, and the artist’s longtime aide-de-camp Jerry Gorovoy, lend piquant commentary.

USA • 2008 • 99 MINUTES

Listen to our latest podcasts:
Introduction by MoMA curator DEBORAH WYE (Recorded July 2, 2008)
Introduction and Q & A with co-director AMEI WALLACH (Recorded June 30, 2008)
Introduction by co-director AMEI WALLACH (Recorded June 27, 2008)