ARTIST ROOMS at Modern One explores a variety of artistic mediums and themes, whilst remaining separated by the practices of Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick and Robert Mapplethorpe, offering the exhibition-goer a compact yet compelling encounter with each artist’s work.
The exhibition opens with a room dedicated to Robert Mapplethorpe, introducing themes of identity and sexuality present in his infamous black and white photographic style. The two rooms of Helen Chadwick which follow are a mixed media amalgamation, displaying her broad artistic range whilst centring on themes of the body, the erotic and the feminine. Her work spans from photography of meat to a sculpture with its shape formed by bodily fluids. The Louise Bourgeois rooms are similarly extensive and emotionally driven, with art ranging from oil painting to a textile-based sculptural composition to her famous Spider sculpture in the final room.
The exhibition succeeds in presenting a comprehensive selection of art; however the absence of a clearly established overarching theme which connects the three artists makes the exhibition come across slightly disjointed. Viewers are taken from the thematic, controlled photographic practice of Mapplethorpe abruptly through to the almost mismatched material explorations of Chadwick and Bourgeois. There is something enticing about the harsh contrast between the three artist’s rooms. The exhibition starting with the still black and white photography of Mapplethorpe and concluding with the looming, wiry presence of Bourgeois’ Spider highlights just this, leaving the viewer with perhaps a more rounded artistic experience.
“‘Maman’ de Louise Bourgeois (Musée Guggenheim, Bilbao)” by dalbera is licensed under CC BY 2.0.