SPIDER COUPLE: A Psychoanalysis of Animal Imagery in LOUISE BOURGEOIS’s work with PHILIP LARRATT-SMITH and JAMIESON WEBSTER

 In a unique pairing to discuss a one-of-a-kind artist, Philip Larratt-Smith, esteemed curator, writer, and Curator of The Easton Foundation, which administers the legacy of Louise Bourgeois, joins in dialogue with Jamieson Webster, clinical psychoanalyst, teacher, and writer who has published work on Bourgeois and many other artists. The two will examine Spider Couple, 2003,  Bourgeois’s iconic 12-foot sculpture featured in our exhibition The Ark. They will also expand their discussion to include the symbolic use of animal imagery prevalent in late artist’s profound body of work. There will be a Q&A following the discussion.

One of the most important and influential contemporary artists of the last century, Lousie Bourgeois is a fearless diver into the psychological realm. Over several decades, the artist plunged into the depths of her own psyche, fueling her creative process with heightened introspection, cathartic examinations of early childhood trauma, and more. Her use of personal symbolism, recurring motifs,  and psychological release within her work created a unique stylistic dimension and a distinctive symbolic code. This code, though highly personal and individualized, has helped to capture the complexity of human experience and emotion, creating a collective sea of understanding around it.  Join us as we submerge into Bourgeois’s world and perhaps contemplate our own introspective reality and its role in the creative process.

Louise Bourgeois’s work Spider Couple is on view on our outdoor deck adjacent to our mezzanine level during our exhibition hours Thursday – Monday, 11 AM – 5 PM. In addition to being the first time The Church will use the outdoor deck as part of the exhibition, it also marks the first time one of these celebrated works will be shown at an arts institution on the East End. We invite you to stop by and see a little web of history as it’s being made.