Last week, I was privileged to preview the newest exhibit that has opened at the Menil Collection……Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s. The exhibition which will debut here in Houston is being presented by the Menil and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. This is the first show to focus on the experimental and prolific work of French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) during the pivotal decade, featuring numerous works from the European collection that is being displayed in the U.S. for the first time.
The exhibition explores a tranformative ten-year period in Saint Phalle’s work, when she embarked on two significant series…….
The Tirs, or “shooting paintings” which the artist created using a .22 caliber rifle. Often standing in front of an audience, Saint Phalle and invited participants would shoot at white plaster surfaces that concealed imbedded bags of pigment or cans of paint, which would explode spectacularly upon the impact of the bullets.
The second focus of the exhibition continues with Saint Phalle’s explorations of gender identity, identified through figural assemblages representing female archetypes , such as brides, mothers, goddesses and monsters. Evolving from wall-bound reliefs to colorful and freestanding sculptures, these increasingly monumental, liberated and curvaceous female forms….with outstretched arms and powerful poses –developed into what Saint Phalle referred to as the Nanas, French slang for “girls”. These sculptures were begun in the mid and late 1960’s, heralding the rise of an international feminist movement.
Rebecca Rabinow, Director of The Menil Collectioin said……
“Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s is the latest in a group of exhibitions organized by the Menil Collection that call attention to groundbreaking women artists, including our recent exhibition Virginia Jaramillo: The Curvilinear Paintings, 1969–1974; Roni Horn: When I Breathe, I Draw (2019); Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma (2018); and Lee Bontecou: Drawn Worlds (2014). Our Saint Phalle exhibition will include work that has never before been displayed in the United States, shedding light on the artist’s experimental processes, radical vision, and key role in contemporary art. The show will be accompanied by a scholarly book that is lavishly illustrated with archival photographs from this pivotal decade.”
Exhibit will be on view from September 10, 2021 thru January 23, 2022 when it will travel to the Contemporary Art Museum San Diego.
