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ExhibitionWorks from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Collection
Obras maestras de la Colección
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Past exhibition

Niki de Saint Phalle

02.27.2015 - 06.07.2015

IntroductionExhibitionArtistDid you know that
The exhibition is organized by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and la Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais with the participation of Niki Charitable Art Foundation.Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002) is one of the most renowned artists from the mid-twentieth century. Born Catherine Marie-Agnes Fal de Saint Phalle, she was known as Niki de Saint Phalle. Throughout her prolific career, Saint Phalle created a complex body of work in various mediums which was deeply embedded with socio-political issues. With themes ranging from joyful to profound to intellectual, the paradoxical nature of her work has yet to be fully explored. She was one of the first women to receive international acclaim and recognition during her lifetime, as well as to successfully create a public persona. Much like Warhol did, Saint Phalle was able to use the media to skillfully guide the reception of her work.
Without any formal art training, Niki de Saint Phalle took her inspiration from Gaudí, Dubuffet, and Pollock to invent, in the late 1950s, a singular world independent of any trend or art movement. Her entire career is sublimated by great themes and myths, which later articulated her entire oeuvre. The joyous, colorful side of her work is well known but its violence, commitment, and radical stands have been forgotten. And this is equally true of her audacious performances, the political and feminist content of her work, and her ambitious public sculptures.This retrospective, the first major exhibition devoted to Niki de Saint Phalle in twenty years, presents a multifaceted artist, at once a painter, assembly artist, sculptor, printmaker, performer, and experimental filmmaker, and takes a profoundly new look at her work. Over 200 works and archival documents, many unpublished, are set out in over 2,000 square meters, organized by chronology and theme, and punctuated by screens showing the artist talking about her work.

 

Niki de Saint Phalle
Long Live Love (Vive l'Amour), 1990
Felt-pen and gouache on Bristol paper
45 x 55 cm
Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, CA; USA
© 2014, Niki Charitable Art Foundation, VEGAP, Bilbao
Photo: Ed Kessler


The Exhibition

PAINTING VIOLENCE

GALLERY 305
Autoportrait

Self-Portrait (Autoportrait), ca. 1958–59
Paint and various objects on wood
141 × 141 × 10 cm
Niki Charitable Art Foundation, Santee, CA, USA
© Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, USA
Photo: © Laurent Condominas

RIFLE ART

Gallery 306-307
Grand Shoot – J Gallery Session

Grand Shoot – J Gallery Session (Grand Tir – Séance galerie J), 1961
Paint, plaster, and various objects on conglomerate panel 143 × 77 × 7 cm
Private collection, Courtesy Galerie G.-P. & N. Vallois, Paris
© Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, USA
Photo: © Laurent Condominas

NAPOLEON IN PETTICOATS

SALA 307
The Horse and the Bride

The Horse and the Bride (Cheval et la Mariée), 1963
Fabric, toys, various objects, and wire mesh
235 × 300 × 120 cm
Sprengel Museum, Hanover, gift of the artist, 2000
© Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, USA
Photo: © BPK, Berlin, dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Michael Herling / Aline Gwose

NANA POWER

Niki-De-Saint-Phalle-Dolores-1966-1995

Dolorès, 1966–95
Painted polyester on wire mesh
550 cm high Sprengel Museum, Hanover, gift of the artist, 2000
© Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, USA

A NEW MATRIARCHAL SOCIETY

Gwendolyn

Gwendolyn, 1966–90
Painted polyester on metal frame
252 × 200 × 125 cm
Sprengel Museum, Hanover, gift of the artist, 2000
© Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, USA

DEVOURING MOTHERS

The Toilette

The Toilette (Make Up or Mirror or Life), 1978
Painted papier collé and various objects (dressing table)
Woman: 160 × 150 × 100 cm
Dressing table: 126 × 92 × 80 cm
Collection MAMAC, Nice, gift of the artist, 2001
© Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, USA
Photo: © MAMAC / Muriel Anssens

DIANA’S DREAM

Diana’s Dream

Diana’s Dream (Le Rêve de Diane), 1970
Painted polyester
280 × 600 × 350 cm
Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, CA; USA
© Niki Charitable Art Foudation, Santee, USA
Photo: © Laurent Condominas

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS MY PUBLIC

Cat Head Totem

Cat Head Totem, 2000
Polyurethane, resin, metal base and frame, abalone shells, stones, and colored mirror fragments
335 × 213 × 140 cm
Niki Charitable Art Foundation, Santee, USA
© Niki Charitable Art Foundation, Santee, USA
Photo: © NCAF/Thomas Marlow. Exhibition view, Niki in the Garden, Garfield Park Conservatory, 2007

Artist

Niki De Saint Phalle en Deya 1955 1

De Saint Phalle, Niki

30-40s 10.29.1930 Birth of Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle (called Niki) in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. The family later settles in New York, where Saint Phalle attends the Convent School of the Sacred Heart. 1940 Starting in 1946 Saint...

Discover the artist

Did you
know that...?

Niki De Saint Phalle Queen Califia Magical Circle 2003

Niki de Saint Phalle social compromise

Several projects that she produced in these years supported people at risk of being socially excluded because of HIV/AIDS, including colorful and striking sculptures in the shape of condoms, painted with skulls and hearts or covered with fragmented mirrors.
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Niki de Saint Phalle public projects—The editions

Niki de Saint Phalle’s public art can be found in city parks and plazas, but mostly they are in open spaces surrounded by nature. There you may find, among fountains, stairways, and slides, large sculptures–architectures created to be visited, even inhabited. In the words of the artist herself, "The general public is my public".

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