Niki de Saint Phalle The 1980s and 1990s: Art Unleashed

The Niki de Saint Phalle – The 1980s and 1990s: Art Unleashed exhibition will be devoted to the work of Niki de Saint Phalle in the last two decades of her life, starting in 1978 when the French-American artist launched the monumental Tarot Garden in Italy.

Years marked by freedom

She achieved recognition in the 1960s and 1970s for Shots, paintings produced by shooting at the canvases with a rifle, for her participation in the new realism movement, and her emblematic Nanas. The time has come to focus on her late work.

This period is often neglected in artists’ careers, even more so among women. During these years, Niki de Saint Phalle enjoyed considerable freedom of expression but also the financial freedom that an innovative, exemplary entrepreneurship model afforded her.

Joy as a resistance strategy

The artist contributed to social justice through her commitment to the fight for women’s rights and the struggle against racism, early support for AIDS sufferers, and the protection of animals and the environment. Her art encompasses all human beings, nature, and the life cycle.

The exhibition will assemble more than 150 works and is presented by the MNBAQ in collaboration with Les Abattoirs, Musée – Frac Occitanie Toulouse and the Niki Charitable Art Foundation.

“I decided early on to become a hero. Who will I be? George Sand? Joan of Arc? Napoleon in a skirt? Whatever the future held in store, I wanted it to be difficult, exciting, and grandiose.” – Niki de Saint Phalle, 1999

¹ Niki de Saint-Phalle, Ange luminaire, 1995. © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. All rights reserved / Photo: Erica Holm