A complete retrospective of the work of Niki de Saint Phalle, the first great feminist artist of the 20th century. Surveying her paintings, sculptures, prints, performances, and experimental films, this show takes a comprehensive new look at the works of a ground-breaking, multifaceted artist. The violence, radicalism, and social engagement that characterize her oeuvre coexist with the joyous, colorful tone of some of her most iconic pieces.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is proud to present Niki de Saint Phalle, a complete retrospective of the work of Niki de Saint Phalle (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 1930 –San Diego, California, 2002), member of the Nouveaux Réalistes and known around the world for works like her powerful, exuberant Nanas , her impressive Shooting Paintings —Tirs— , and emblematic public artworks like the Tarot Garden in Tuscany.

This exhibition, organized by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and La Réunion des Musées Nationaux–Grand Palais, Paris, with the participation of the Niki Charitable Art Foundation, is the first major retrospective of Niki de Saint Phalle's work ever held in Spain and takes a comprehensive and original look at the artist through over 200 works and archive documents, many of which have never been published.

This broad selection faithfully documents the multiple facets—painter, sculptor, printmaker, performer, and experimental filmmaker—of an artist with a singular creative universe and a pioneering worldview, punctuated by screenings that show Saint Phalle talking about her work.

As visitors wander through the more than 2,000 square meters of exhibition space, they will come across the milestones and legends that marked the career of Niki de Saint Phalle, an artist who earned international acclaim and acknowledgment in her lifetime and, like Andy Warhol before her, knew how to attract the media's interest.

The pieces in the show arranged in the chronological order and according to subjects, address recurring themes in Niki de Saint Phalle's artistic trajectory, such as the power of the feminine and open defiance of social conventions. In her works, the artist combines her intense political and social engagement and radicalism with color and the optimism of her world-famous Nanas. The retrospective thus reveals a paradoxical, singular creative universe inspired by Gaudí, Dubuffet, and Pollock.

Curators.- Camille Morineau and Álvaro Rodríguez Fominaya.
Dates.- February 27–June 11, 2015.
Venue.- Avenida Abandoibarra, 2 48009 Bilbao. Spain.

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Catherine Marie-Agnes Fal de Saint Phalle, mejor conocida como Niki de Saint Phalle (29 de octubre de 1930 - 21 de mayo de 2002). Fue una reconocida escultora, pintora y cineasta francesa, que fuera también la mujer del escultor y pintor Jean Tinguely.

Se muda a Estados Unidos en 1933, donde fue modelo en el transcurso de su adolescencia.

En 1962 participa en la exposición titulada “El arte del montaje” en el Museo de Arte Moderno de Nueva York. Comienza en 1964 una serie de obras titulada “Nanas”, que eras figuras femeninas de forma voluptuosas y colores vívidos. En esta misma serie, en 1964, realiza la escultura de mujer más grande de la historia del arte con el título “Hon”, que significa “Ella” en sueco. Construye en 1979 el “Jardín del tarot”, que es un parque de esculturas situado cerca de Florencia, Italia.

En 1982, junto a su marido Jean Tinguely, realiza la "Fontaine Stravinsky" o “Fuente de los autómatas” situada junto al Centro Pompidou en París.

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Published on: April 5, 2015
Cite: "Niki de Saint Phalle: exhibition at the Guggenheim in Bilbao " METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/niki-de-saint-phalle-exhibition-guggenheim-bilbao> ISSN 1139-6415
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