The idea of the tormented artistic soul finding redemption through creation is perhaps a myth. But in Niki de Saint Phalle’s case, there are many indications that art actually became her salvation. A dark childhood Now this remarkable artist has had his first retrospective exhibition in Norway. At the Henie Onstad Art Center, the colorful and lush universe unfolds in full width. As an artist, she was completely self-taught. Her childhood was characterized by neglect, violence and sexual abuse. In other words, the aggression expressed in her project is easier to understand than the fierce joy and vitality that is also found there. THE ARTIST AT WORK: Niki de Saint Phalle paints the sculpture “Le Monde” in 1981. Photo: © Niki Charitable Art Foundation Aggressive work Niki de Saint Phalle’s earlier works are characterized by intense rage. She mounted objects on a wooden board or fixed them in plaster, thus creating a hybrid expression on the borderland between image and sculpture – a type of artwork we like to call assemblage. She often chose objects with a violent potential, such as a hammer, knife, scissors or revolver. One of these rather aggressive works is “Portrait of My Lover/Portrait of Myself” from 1960/61. INTERIORS: Niki de Saint Phalle’s “Portrait of My Lover/Portrait of Myself” from 1960/61. Photo: © 2022 NIKI CHARITABLE ART FOUNDATION The expression consists of a man’s shirt that gives the illusion of an upper body, where the head is a dartboard that the audience was invited to throw darts at. Color explosions At the beginning of the 60s, she began attaching paint ampoules to her assemblage works and shot them with a salon rifle, so that beautiful color explosions arose. This is how she was able to create a random painting, which also contained this great anger. SHOOT ART: “La Cathédrale Rouge” (1962). Photo: 2022 Niki Charitable Art Foundation / Adagp, Pari In the exhibition we also see a film where she fires at a work of art while roaring. The image of the wiry young woman standing in stained clothes and firing a rifle went around the world. In 1961, Niki de Saint Phalle had become one of the biggest art celebrities in Europe. ART CELEBRITY: Still from the film “Daddy” from 1972. Photo: Niki de Saint Phalle / © Niki Charitable Art Foundation A turn towards joy This violent and aggressive part of her artistry is the first thing that meets us at Høvikodden. The transition to the exhibition’s next section shows us how the circle of motifs and the idiom in 1963 made a rather abrupt turn. Now she left the violence and aggression behind and concentrated on the joy, which she believed was challenging for post-war people to deal with. Saint Phalle developed what has remained her most famous expression, namely the Nana sculptures: “NANA”: Installation photo from Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Art Center Large, lush, colorful women’s bodies captured in a moment of dance and movement. Many of them are covered with shiny enameled tiles. In the exhibition, we can see how she explored the role of women in various ways. From the life-affirming symbol of fertility, to the monstrous mother who devours her children. FRUITFUL: In 1966, Niki de Saint Phalle created the work “Hon: A Cathedral” in Stockholm. Inside the enormous sculpture there was, among other things, a cinema, a children’s slide, an aquarium and a telephone booth. Photo: ØYSTEIN THORVALDSEN / HENIE ONSTAD KUNSTSENTER CONSUMING: This white lace dress includes dry wedding flowers and small fetuses, but also charged symbols such as a gun and a scorpion that refer to the mother figure’s enormous power and ability to hurt. Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Art Center Personal and collective trauma Niki de Saint Phalle’s artistic project reflects both her own wounds, but also the world war as a collective trauma. There are few works of art in recent times that have so much pain and beauty in them at the same time: such bright light, and such deep shadows. But even if the dark undercurrents are present in everything she does, the exhibition at Høvikodden is characterized by a feeling of excess and buoyancy. LUSH AND COLORFUL: “Loulou et Mimi” from 1965. Photo: © 2022 Niki Charitable Art Foundation You sense how she has fought with her whole being, through her colorful art, against being dragged down into her own darkness. The Henie Onstad Art Center gives us a rich and informative presentation of one of the most important artists of the post-war period. If you feel that the day and the feeling of life are a little gray, just make your way to Høvikodden. Because this really is a vitamin injection of an exhibition. news reviewer Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen / Henie Onstad Art Center Title: Niki de Saint Phalle Artist: Niki de Saint Phalle Genre: Exhibition Where: Henie Onstad Art Center, Høvikodden Date: 16 October 2022 – 12 February 2023
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Niki de Saint Phalle, Henie Onstad Art Center – Reviews and recommendations
