The Spiders November 30, 2007 - November 30, 2007

About the Work

After a year of negotiations the enormous artworks were brought to the Playhouse Square district where they would reside during summer 2002. The exhibit included a large mother spider and her two smaller offspring. The mother weighed in at 20,000 pounds and stood over 30 feet high. The two smaller sculptures were 15 feet tall, and each weighed about a ton. The mother carried twenty marble eggs in her egg sac, each weighing twenty pounds.

Bourgeois, a French-born sculptor, created the Spiders installation in her nineties. Bourgeois is one of the world’s most famous sculptors and is considered among the most famous female artists. She was raised in Paris and derives much of her inspiration from her difficult childhood. The Spiders are a reference to her mother who was a weaver.

How It Started

Bourgeois’s Spiders were originally located in New York City’s Rockefeller Park where they were viewed by LAND studio staff. After seeing the artwork, LAND studio wanted to bring the Spiders to Cleveland.

Media

Bronze

The Outcome

The success of the Spiders installation has led to LAND studio's continued efforts to commission new works of temporary art in high profile and underutilized civic spaces. Since the Spiders installation in 2002, LAND studio has commissioned the LuminoCity project at the historic Cleveland Trust Building, and two two-year temporary art installations on Mall B in downtown Cleveland. The first by New York artist Brian Tolle entitled "For the Gentle Wind Doth Blow Silently, Invisibly" in 2004 and The Verdant Walk in 2008 by Peter & Alissa North of the Toronto-based North Design Office.