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Niki de Saint Phalle

We made a last ditch effort to catch the exhibition of Niki de Saint Phalle at the Grand Palais today. My colleague S saw it recently and absolutely loved it. I don’t know anything about Saint Phalle, except some of her sculptures are permanently installed by the Centre Pompidou and her style of work is so distinctive that I immediately recognised it when I saw “La Tempérance” in Luxembourg City.

(Note to self: I should write about Luxembourg City one of these days, as this blog contains only two measly P365 posts about it.)

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

I had expected to see more of her characteristic colourful and bountiful figures, and I ended up getting to know a lot more about the artist – sculptor, painter, filmmaker; the sources of inspiration – albeit painful ones in some cases – of her works; and some very personal story brought forth to the surface. I learned that art was “a way of taming those dragons which have always appeared in [her] work” and she wanted “to show everything; [her] heart, [her] emotions”.

I dare not even attempt to write a thesis over what was at the exhibition etc. Divided into eight loose themes, my favourite sections were those of “Nana Power” and “the General Public is my Public”. “Napoleon in Petticoats” was an intriguing yet creepy section that I oddly was drawn to, and I felt sort of blah towards “Rifle Art”. Luckily, photography while visiting is allowed (strictly no-flash policy) so you can judge the works yourself.

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Niki de St Phalle

Unfortunately, there is only one day left to catch this exhibition and I have to work. Otherwise I’d happily return and study some of the pieces in more details. Some of them can be very particular, and the components they were made up of were not terribly common either. The lesson of the day: I really should not leave exhibitions to the very last minute, because then I wouldn’t have any opportunity to revisit after having time to think things through after the first visit. Oh well…



Category: Culture, Event, Paris

Tagged: , , ,

4 scribbles & notes

  1. helene says:

    ça me donne envie de lire sur cette artiste que je connais relativement peu! Belle expo apparemment…

    • Lil says:

      Moi aussi! J’adore la plupart de cette expo, et il paraît que sa vie était pas toujours facile (le viol par son père, et sa mère qui piquait des colères énormes) donc elle a montré énormément d’elle dans ses œuvres. C’est une personnage intrigante ;)

  2. med says:

    Weirdly interesting ;)

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