At firstsite, we are extremely proud to have worked with Louise Bourgeois in collaboration with Modern Art Oxford during our early years at The Minories.

Born in Paris in 1911, Bourgeois lived and worked in New York from 1938. Until her death in 2010 she was considered one of the world’s most important contemporary artists.

Louise Bourgeois at The Minories

The body of work shown at firstsite explored a range of materials and approaches, from early works in wood and bronze castings to the experimental works of the late 1960s in plaster, rubber latex, cement and marble.

In 1996 firstsite gave the world a rare opportunity to see a survey of the sculpture of Louise Bourgeois from the late 1940s.

As part of the exhibition, Bourgeois’ seminal work Spider took centre stage in The Minories' ballroom, four years before Tate Modern showed the larger version of this work, Maman, in the Turbine Hall.