The exhibition, produced by 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE, sponsored by the Municipality of Milan – Department of Culture and with Fondazione Deloitte as Institutional Partner, is the first comprehensive retrospective anthology in an Italian museum celebrates the Franco-American artist known for her big, colourful Nanas, but also revealing her activism through a different interpretation of her work.
Throughout eight sections, the exhibition project narrates Niki de Saint Phalle’s artistic life from the beginnings to her latest works. This diachronic yet strongly anthological rhythm retraces her personal life through the colorful, polymorphic, round, and maternal world of her Nanas (and more), revealing a much less joyful personal life. During her own life, this artist has often had to destroy in order to process grief, then she had to rebuild, breaking the mould through her unconventional artworks, sending messages through her intense provocations, and thus leaving a lasting mark on the art world.
Thanks to the collaboration with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation, this exhibition brings 110 works to Milan, among which a dozen large-scale works, along with a selection dresses from Maison Dior, recalling her modeling past in the beautiful photos portraying her, while simultaneously telling the public, about a very “pop” personal vision of art, perceived as a path affirmation of femininity.
Niki de Saint Phalle, ‘woman and artist’ (as she liked to define herself) was a painter, sculptor, experimental filmmaker, and performer, who defies a single definition. Her monumental works, including parks and public sculptures, are intertwined with more personal and sometimes poignant reflection. On the one hand, she is seen as an independent celebrity, proud of her art; on the other, her physical frailty and the many social inequalities and discrimination she witnessed throughout her life bring out her humanity and sensitivity towards the most vulnerable people.
Living through an era of significant social and artistic changes — from the feminist movement of the ’60s and ’70s to Nouveau Réalisme, of which she was a key figure — Niki de Saint Phalle (Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1930 – La Jolla, 2002) was one of the artists who most challenged gender stereotypes through her art, expressing her identity through femininity, sensuality, and a love for life as creation.
Curated by Lucia Pesapane
