Niki de Saint Phalle was a French artist best known for her sculptural female figures known as Nanas; colorful, patterned, and crafted in a variety of shapes and sizes, these women embody de Saint Phalle’s feminist spirit. She was part of the Nouveau Réalisme movement. Born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle on October 29, 1930 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the self-taught artist first began making work as a form of therapy. Early in her career, de Saint Phalle became inspired by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi while on vacation in Spain, and planned to make a piece on par with his famed public park design, Parc Güell. A painter, sculptor, and designer on a grand scale, de Saint Phalle died May 21, 2002 in La Jolla, CA at the age of 71.

 

 

프랑스의 누보레알리슴 조각가로서 18세 때 모델로 일하다가 20세 때부터 그림을 그리기 시작하였다.

1961년에 '슈팅 페인팅 shooting painting'으로 누보레알리슴 작가로서 이름을 얻었다. 슈팅 페인팅이란 마을 축제와 같은 전시장에서 관객에게 총을 주어 캔버스 위에 매달아 놓은 물감 주머니를 쏘게 함으로써 무작위적인 추상화를 연출하는 것이다.

한편 나나 NaNa 시리즈에서는 밝게 채색된 그로테스크한 조각상이 등장한다. 낙천적이고 맵시 없이 과장되게 부푼 모습들은 밝고 재미있는 색채를 띠어 활기차 보이지만 그 내면에는 인간의 약점이나 두려움, 불확실성 등에 대한 역설적인 상상을 하게 만든다. 

 

 

Selected Exhibitions 

2011 Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

2009 Les boîtes à secrets de Niki, Musée en Herbe, Paris, France (solo)

2008 Niki de Saint Phalle, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK (solo)

2004 Niki de Saint Phalle, Kunsthalle Nurnberg, Nuremberg, Germany (solo)

2003 Niki de Saint Phalle, Ernst Museum Budapest, Budapest, Hungary (solo)

1997 Made in France, Centre George Pompidou, Paris, France

1993 Retrospective, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle in Bonn, Germany; Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, France;Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Fribourg, Switzerland (solo)

1991 Niki de Saint Phalle: Sculptures, Hokin Gallery, Palm Beach, FL (solo)

1987 Niki de Saint Phalle: Oeuvres récentes, Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland (solo)

1986 Retrospective, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (solo)

1983 Niki de Saint Phalle: Sculptures et lithographies, Galerie Esperanza, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (solo)

1982 Niki de Saint Phalle, Space Niki, Tokyo, japan (solo)

1981 Niki de Saint Phalle, Galerie Samy Kinge, Paris, France (solo)

1975 Niki de Saint Phalle: Silkscreens, Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1972 Niki de Saint Phalle: Les funérailles du père, Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris, France (solo)

1965 Niki de Saint Phalle, Alexandre Iolas Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1964 Mythologies Quotidiennes, Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, France

1962 Action de tir, Everett Ellin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (solo)

1956 Niki Mathews New York Gemälde, Gouachen, Galerie Restaurant Gotthard, St. Gallen, Switerland (solo)

 

Public Collections

National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan

Musée d'Art Contemporain, Marseille, France

Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, Nice, France

Musée Nationale d'Art Moderne / Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Tate Gallery, London, UK

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de la Ville de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA