Special Exhibition

ARTIST ROOMS: Louise Bourgeois

22 March - 25 June 2023

Explore the work of legendary artist Louise Bourgeois in this first major presentation of her work in Dorset.

Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) is one of the most celebrated and influential figures in modern and contemporary art. ARTIST ROOMS Louise Bourgeois brings together works from the last twenty years of her life, a period of extraordinary creativity, alongside a small number of earlier pieces from her remarkable seven-decade career. A sculptor of immense distinction, her extraordinary and inventive work received international acclaim in her lifetime. She is perhaps best known for the large-scale spider sculptures that she produced in the last decades of her life, including the one she created for the opening of Tate Modern in 2000.

Bourgeois’s art was closely bound up with her life, and she used art-making to express and investigate her experiences and memories. Ranging from large-scale sculpture and installation to painting and textiles, her art often explores the same ideas in different forms, with an unflinching emotional honesty. Bourgeois’s work is both autobiographical and universal. Using a variety of materials, she gives shape to themes of childhood, family, isolation, sexuality and gender identity, with a focus on the human form and emotional experience.

“I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands…”
Louise Bourgeois

ARTIST ROOMS is a touring collection of international modern and contemporary art. Its national programme reaches audiences across the UK and is developed through local partnerships. ARTIST ROOMS presents the work of individual artists in solo exhibitions. The exhibitions draw from a national collection jointly owned by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland that includes major bodies of work by international artists. ARTIST ROOMS gives young people the chance to get involved in creative projects, to discover more about art and artists, and learn new skills.

The ARTIST ROOMS programme and collection is managed by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland with the support of Art Fund, Henry Moore Foundation and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and Creative Scotland. Its founding collection was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008 with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments.

  • Opening hours:

    Daily: 9.00am - 4.30pm
    Sunday: 10.00am - 4.00pm
    Bank Holidays: 10.00am - 4.00pm

  • Admissions:

    Annual Pass or Day Entry available

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  • Dorset Museum

    High West Street
    Dorchester DT1 1XA

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Image: Louise Bourgeois Spider I 1995 ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Lent by the Easton Foundation 2013. © The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2022. Photo © Tate


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ARTIST ROOMS is a collection of modern and contemporary art. Established in 2008, the collection includes major bodies of work by more than 40 international artists. The guiding principle is to show the work of each artist in dedicated solo exhibitions

 

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Community Exhibition

18 February - 22 June 2023

The Art of Seeing: An exhibition of photographs by Dorchester Camera Club

The Club is delighted to have this opportunity to exhibit some of their members’ prints in the Dorset Museum together with an audio-visual presentation.

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Tours

21 March 2023, 11:00am - 12:00pm

Archaeology Highlights Tour

Explore archaeological treasures held by Dorset Museum – from Bronze Age gold to medieval silver -  in this volunteer-led tour.

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Special Exhibition

22 March - 25 June 2023

ARTIST ROOMS: Louise Bourgeois

Explore the work of Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), one of the most important figures of modern and contemporary art. This spring Dorset Museum will show a major presentation of her work in this Artist Rooms touring exhibition featuring works jointly owned by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland.

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Dorset Museum Music Society

22 March 2023, 7:30pm

Cordiera Piano Trio

A varied programme ranging from J.S. Bach’s most revolutionary son to a vivid and exciting contemporary American work by way of two pillars of the standard chamber music repertoire.

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Museum after hours

23 March 2023, 5:00pm - 6:30pm

FREE | Museum After Hours

Join us for an opportunity to explore the Museum at this FREE late opening.

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FULLY BOOKED

23 March 2023, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Joanna Quinn in conversation with Tracy Chevalier

Spend an evening with Joanna Quinn and best-selling author Tracy Chevalier as they discuss Quinn’s debut novel, The Whalebone Theatre, a brilliant coming-of-age story set in Dorset before and during World War II.

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Special Event

24 March 2023, 6:00pm - 9:00pm

This is Now

The Friendly Society of Artistic Labourers and Dorset Museum invites you to a spectacular showcase of contemporary art, design, media, music, and performance. Inspired by…

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Tours

28 March 2023, 11:00am - 12:00noon

Dorset Museum Highlights Tour

Explore 250 million years of Dorset’s history in this volunteer-led highlights tour of Dorset Museum. Discover Roman mosaics, fossils from the Jurassic Coast, Thomas Hardy manuscripts and the sculptures of Elisabeth Frink – and plenty more along the way.

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Workshop

1 April 2023, 10:00am to 4:30pm

One day life painting pose

This is a structured class that will take students through the traditional monochrome underpainting approach to painting the figure in oils. Same pose all day…

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