Galerie Mitterrand was inaugurated in 1988 with an exhibition of sculptures by Niki de Saint-Phalle. The gallery has since represented the artist's work and has collaborated continuously with the artist's estate following her death in 2002.
On the occasion of Frieze Masters 2022, Galerie Mitterrand presents a focused selection of historical works by the French-American artist, ranging from the 1960s to the late 1990s.
Saint-Phalle began her career as a painter in 1950. Her work quickly moved towards assemblages, reliefs, and sculpture. In 1961, she became a member of the Nouveaux Réalistes group. The Tirs [Shootings] from the early 1960s were quickly followed in 1965 by the sexy, curvaceous, feminine sculptures she called Nanas (nanas is an affectionate term meaning girls in French). Later on, Saint-Phalle's art moved to exterior spaces with large, bright, colourful sculptures, some of which created in collaboration with Jean Tinguely: Le Cyclop in Milly-la-Forêt, La Fontaine Stravinsky next to the Pompidou Centre in Paris and her masterpiece The Tarot Garden in Capalbio, Italy.
In 2021, the gallery organized Les Nanas au pouvoir, an exhibition which brought together a group of monumental Nanas sculptures as well as the complete portfolio Nana Power from 1970. This exhibition aimed at recontextualizing Niki de Saint Phalle's work in the history of post-war art, a process initiated last year by two major exhibitions in the United States: Niki de Saint Phalle; Structures for Life, at MoMA PS1, New York, and Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s, at the Menil Collection, Houston. During frieze masters, you will also be able to see works by Niki de Saint Phalle in two large exhibitions: Niki de Saint Phalle at the Kunsthaus, Zurich, and Niki de Saint Phalle, les années 1980 et 1990, l'art en liberté at the Frac Occitanie - Les Abattoirs, in Toulouse.
