What can a visitor do on a rainy October Sunday in Gananoque, apart from eat and sleep? Drive to Ottawa, of course. It’s only a two-hour drive, maybe less in good weather.
And what can a visitor do on a rainy October Sunday afternoon upon arrival in Ottawa with only a couple of hours to go before dark? Go straight to the National Gallery of Canada. Of course!
Housed in a stunning glass and granite building full of light that is carried from the skylights on the roof, the gallery is an excellent antidote to depressing weather. It was designed by Moshe Safdie, who is responsible for a number of iconic structures around the world, including, for example, the Marina Bay Sands complex in Singapore, the infinity pool of which tops both the building and my personal wish-list.
Back in Ottawa; see these glass octagonal features on the roof? That’s how they look like on the inside, with the addition of white sails to diffuse the light.
“Maman” the giant egg-carrying spider outside the gallery, is a sculpture (1999, cast 2003) by Louise Bourgeois.
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
October 29th, 2017
The Humble Fabulist 
Mysterious and tormented Louise Bourgeois would not fit under the geometrical and fractal roof. I wonder if her 8 “Maman” spiders do not have something to do with her parents who were tapestry restorers .. a story of threads. Many thanks for the visit, the Humble Fabulist.
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I think you’re right Gil! I read somewhere that spiders represented ”cleverness, industriousness, and protectiveness” for her and that they were partly a reference to her mother who, indeed was heavily involved in the family business of tapestry restoration. But she must have had an ambiguous relationship with her mother, judging by how huge and scary her ”Mamans” are!
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[…] recent addition to the group, the Jepson Center. Designed by architect Moshe Safdie (see also the National Gallery of Canada), this sleek art space was opened to the public in 2006. It is home to Savannah’s famous Bird […]
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