Niki de Saint Phalle exhibition, Le Grand Palais,
Paris
Anyone who is a fan or
admirer of this brilliant and prolific artist and sculptress, Niki de SaintPhalle- me included!- should go to this magnificent and eminent exhibition at
the Grand Palais in Paris. The work of
Niki de Saint Phalle, 1930-2000, which is as broad as it is varied has
not seen a retrospective for nearly twenty years. The show boasts at least 200
works of art gathered together, not least starting with her stunning ‘Tree of
Life’ presented outside at the very entrance of the grand palais.
The exhibition minutely
traces Saint Phalle’s career and life as she faced the very real challenges and
choices demanded by her chosen vocation, art. We learn that Saint Phalle
started painting as a way of battling with the depression that afflicted her
from a very young age. In fact when she was a teenager she was placed in a
psychiatric hospital, suffering from a type of schizophrenia and it was only through
painting that she could control her illness. Hearts”, is one of the first works on display
and it affirms both her commitment to art and the challenges it presented to
her. For example Saint Phalle felt it necessary to leave her husband and two small
children in order to devote herself entirely to art. Throughout her work we see
how she is continually reconciling chaos and violence – often within herself –
with playfulness and a joie de vivre. Her slightly grotesque and momentous
piece called, ‘Crucifixion and L’Eto’ – a large mural sculpture of a tortured,
buxom woman with no arms, showing her pubic hair by spreading her legs in pink
suspenders and a minute head is formidable. We see how she plays with different
textiles and objects, often covering her pieces with felt objects such as
flowers, dolls and teddies and fabrics. Similarly Saint Phalle uses grimacing
masks and skulls to represent life and death. The woman displayed can either be
seen as a prostitute or a mother, a victim or a warrior. Saint Phalle is
questioning the role of women in society and in religious history. So she is
playing with the idea that women are both victims of the feminine condition as
well as heroines and matriarchs of the new world. Throughout the exhibition are
very interesting film clips of Saint Phalle herself as she tries to explain her
views, her art and her passionate ideas on woman’s role in society. Perhaps one
of the most important art works that catapulted her into the art world was her
massive woman giving birth, called ‘Hon’ which she built in 1966 with the help
of her lover and art companion Jean Tinguely. We learn from the film footage
that inside the installation was a milk bar in the right breast, signifying a
glorification of woman as mother as well as praying devourer and a call for a
new world where women hold more power.
Saint Phalle’s formidable
Nanas were a natural extension of her idea of a fertile goddess and mother.
There is a huge collection of them in the exhibition – women often dancing and
athletic, large – even giant – sometimes imposing, sometimes playful and sexy.
There are never any thin Nanas. The
Nanas carried her hope for a new world where women would have their rightful
place and where femininity had no restraint. Saint Phalle wanted women to be
free from the stereotypes imposed by fashion and social restraints. Her Nanas
became symbols for feminine standard bearers and for female civil rights. They
were the warriors in the feminist battle that Saint Phalle was one of the first
to lead in the world of art. The trio of black Nanas on display who are all
dancing in a circle is magnificent; the colour, power and movement of the women
is incredible. Moreover since they are physically moving round their bodies
catch the lights and so there is a bright kaleidoscope of colour. We learn
interesting facts – such as, for example, that the Nana’s heads are so small
in comparison to their bodies because she is expressing the view that the
scientific mind is killing society and that women can be independent from men
in a new world of joy. The exhibition focuses on each aspect of Saint Phalle’s
artistic career and in depth. Her work
called ‘Tea at Angelina’s’ is a powerful study on the theme of devouring and
predatory mothers and the dark side of motherhood. Here the Nanas are
grotesque, unsightly and large and not presented as joyous in any way. Saint Phalle herself had a difficult
relationship with her mother who often criticised her work, ideas and art.
These ideas are also expressed in ‘La
Toilette’, created in 1977, where Saint Phalle is expressing her need to rely
on herself alone and not on other people’s opinions.
There is an enormous
section of the room devoted to Saint Phalle’s ‘shooting’ phase or her ‘Tir’
development. Here we see her filming herself and other artists shooting at
objects and pockets of colour incorporated into plaster fixed on a board
shooting target range. The sense that she is physically and literally
channeling her rage and emotion onto an art form that explodes in front of us
is exciting. Her work, ‘King Kong’ is on display – her most accomplished
shooting painting as it is 6 metres long and follows the footsteps of Picasso’s
Guernica. For me the highlight of the show is the film footage of the Tarot
Garden which Saint Phalle created in 1978 – her stunning garden of habitable
sculptures inspired by the Tarot and created by her talent, forceful
imagination and hard work. There is a whole room replicating each of the works
of art that Saint Phalle produced in life size in the garden and you can
delight in each and every one of them up close – for example The High Priest
and The Sun.
I strongly recommend
any art lover to go and revel in this magnificent show!
Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, Visitmuseums.com
