Borghese Gallery dedicates its first exhibition on a contemporary artist to Louise Bourgeois

From June 21 to September 15, 2024, the Galleria Borghese will host a major contemporary art exhibition that will put the past and present in dialogue with the exhibition Louise Bourgeois. The Unconscious of Memory, conceived by Cloé Perrone and curated with Geraldine Leardi and Philip Larratt-Smith, and realized in collaboration with The Easton Foundation and theAcademy of France in Rome - Villa Medici. This is the first exhibition dedicated to a contemporary artist at the Galleria Borghese and the first Roman exhibition of the French-American artist among the most influential of the last century. This landmark exhibition will explore Bourgeois’ profound contribution to sculpture by placing her works in dialogue with the Galleria Borghese’s historical collection and architecture.

The selection of more than twenty sculptural works will focus on the themes of metamorphosis, memory, and theexpression of emotional and psychological states. This exhibition event will also be an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between ancient and contemporary art, promoting an ideal dialogue between masters from different eras and backgrounds. The exhibition route goes through various rooms, the Secret Gardens and the Bird Pavilion, places that fascinated Louise Bourgeois during her first visit to Rome in 1967.

“The exhibition on Louise Bourgeois since its title pursues two very significant aspects of the artist’s path: the unconscious and memory. In the Galleria Borghese, the preservation of the memory of its founding collector, Scipione Borghese, is central for us, and all the works he collected tell his story, which then became the story of one of the most important museums in the world,” said Francesca Cappelletti, director of the Galleria Borghese. "The individual works preserve the memory of their creators and their lives, sometimes even their hidden portraits as in the case of Lavinia Fontana’s Minerva, an artist who used mythology as her mirror in the early 17th century. Bourgeois, on the other hand, seems not to hide, but to expose herself as much as possible, trying to tell even her unconscious, the levels of consciousness that are hardly tellable. In this continuous cross-reference between personal and collective memory, between mirrors and cages, lies the aesthetic strength of the exhibition, which thanks to the works of the great 20th-century sculptor implements the mise en abyme of the Borghese collection."

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog featuring photographs of Bourgeois’ works on display in the Gallery, integrated into the context, and a short guide, both published by Marsilio Arte.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Academy of France in Rome - Villa Medici will also host a work by the artist, No Exit, an installation located in the historic apartments of Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici. This work consists of a staircase framed laterally by panels and two large spheres at its base. Hanging on the staircase are two heart-shaped rubber shapes, hidden from view and visible only through a small door located behind the structure.

The exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of FENDI, the exhibition’s official sponsor.

For info: https://galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it/

Image: Louise Bourgeois, Untitled (no.7) (1993-2009; marble and wood, 33 x 91.4 x 66 cm). Photo by Christopher Burke © The Easton Foundation/Licensed by SIAE, Italy and VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Borghese Gallery dedicates its first exhibition on a contemporary artist to Louise Bourgeois

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