From eerie to obscure, her art the story of being human

An underground World War II oil tanker is being used to physically dramatise a story about the highs and lows of human emotion through one artist's work.

Louise Bourgeois' creations spanning more than 70 years have been condensed into one polarising showing in Sydney's Art Gallery of NSW.

On two levels separated by themes of day and night, the opposites showcase a series of works that range from towering to simple, eerie to obscure.

Giant metal spiders representing the artist's mother, hanging sculptures resemblant of female genitalia and dogs with breast like lumps all feature in the line up.

As do simple self portraits and sequential paintings of day gradually transitioning into night.

Exhibition curator Justin Paton said Bourgeois was someone whose art was driven by those swings of mood, by emotional ups and downs.

“So its really thrilling to kind of dramatise that physically between two levels of the gallery,” he said.

The French-American artist described herself as a lonely long distance runner, dying in 2010 at the age of 98 – crafting pieces well into her twilight years.

Born in 1911, she moved through different times in society and worked to challenge the norms of each period, frequently questioning the traditional roles of women.

Many of her larger pieces required laborious work, something traditionally considered masculine.

Mr Paton said that Bourgeois' work will appeal to all people because it speaks to the essence of being human.

“Anyone who understands that the world is a complex place and we humans are sort of vulnerable within it, is going to find something to empathise in with Louise,” he said.

“I think the reason to connect with Louise is because the work is strange, it's beautiful, it's wondrous, it's intense, it's never not interesting.”

Pieces featured in the gallery are carved, moulded and even welded to convey messages trying to provoke an emotional response from the viewer.

Of her art, Bourgeois once said that if people didn't react, she felt lonely.

She found connection through the shared experience of being human.

Titled, Has the Day Invaded the Night or the Night Invaded the Day, the gallery investigates the theme of opposites by creatively taking advantage of its available space.

Upstairs contains Bourgeois' rational and conscious works and downstairs, in the decommissioned oil tanker, her unconscious world comes alive.

As they descend, visitors are slowly immersed in the dark world of the Bourgeois' unconscious as they literally spiral down the staircase.

Low lighting, projections on the walls, and quirky sculptures hang from the ceiling in the dark and vast environment of the tanker.

The biggest of its kind in the Asia-Pacific, Has the Day Invaded the Night or the Night Invaded the Day exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW runs until April 2024.