Baroque and Modernist Works Side by Side at the Galleria Borghese in ‘Louise Bourgeois. Unconscious Memories’

Baroque and modernist works stand in shocking juxtaposition in Louise Bourgeois. Unconscious Memories, an exhibition mounted by the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

Unconscious Memories marks the first time that the Galleria Borghese has mounted a solo exhibition spotlighting Louise Bourgeois. Born in Paris in 1911, she later moved to the United States, and is best remembered for her sculptures and installation exploring the unconscious, sexuality, jealousy, and loneliness, among other themes.

Conceived by Cloé Perrone and curated with Geraldine Leardi and Philip Larratt-Smith, the exhibition creates a dialogue between individual and collective memories, represented respectively by Bourgeois' 20^th century works, and the collection of the Galleria Borghese, established in the early 17^th century by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. For example, Bourgeois' Untitled Heads, made of pieces of fabric, are displayed in the Hall of Emperors. "There is no mimetic research," said Leardi, "However, there is a desire for comparison between the twentieth-century and the seventeenth-century imperial heads that emulate the ancient."

Some of Bourgeois' works are displayed to stand on their own: a massive spider-one of several in her repertoire-stands alone at the Giardino della Meridiana. "It's not a static spider," Leardi says. "It's a fleeing spider; it's not happy to be there, and I must say it's beautiful."

Bourgeois first visited the Galleria Borghese in 1967. She wrote in her notes: "The city is a mess of every single historical period piled one atop the other right in the center of town. ...for the Villa Borghese, I spent the afternoon there, both in the gardens and inside. It was wonderful. It is a dream..."

Twenty of her works feature in in Louise Bourgeois. Unconscious Memories. The exhibition is mounted in collaboration with the Easton Foundation in New York City and Académie de France-Villa Medici, and is available for viewing until September 15.