Work in Focus
Niki de Saint Phalle
“I am a beautiful Camel” 1972
silkscreen edition of 115
30 x 22 in / 76.2 x 55.9 cm
“I am a beautiful Camel” 1972
silkscreen edition of 115
30 x 22 in / 76.2 x 55.9 cm
Niki de Saint Phalle (1930 Paris – 2002 La Jolla, California) had a richly varied career as an artist. Niki is known for her Nanas, large-volumed sculptures of women in joyful poses, but equally renowned are her commissions. These include The Stravinsky Fountain on the outdoor plaza at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which she completed with Swiss artist Jean Tonguely; The Tarot Garden on a hillside in Tuscany; a memorial fountain to President Mitterrand in his home town and a Golem monster slide in a Jerusalem playground..
Prior to the Nana series, in the early sixties Niki had come to the notice of the art world with her ‘Tirs’ or shootings. The artist would construct elaborate assemblages of found, household or cast-off objects, often displayed in an altar-like shape, or affixed to solid wooden boards to be displayed on walls. The found objects were filled with paint, the entire set being then painted itself. Standing well back from the artwork, Niki would raise a .22 rifle to her shoulder and shoot at different elements of the display, Paint would explode out of the shattered elements and spatter the artwork. With this, Niki became the only woman member of the influential Franco-international Nouveau Réaliste movement.
Niki’s world is not just populated by Nanas; equally ubiquitous are her creatures and animals, fabled or not. The screenprint I am a beautiful camel is a case in point. A speech bubble allows the camel to proclaim this, but what of the other animals that populate the page? They too are beautiful, because the artist sees all creatures this way. Think of the intertwined snakes which adorned the bottle top of Niki’s brand of perfume, so beautiful that it is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert.
Niki’s world was always populated by people too, a small army of assistants and project managers, film makers and reporters, acolytes and admirers, critics and art historians. Wherever Niki was working, she would be surrounded by her creations and creatures, who seemed to intermingle with this wide array of human beings in attendance on the artist. A crowded space would be composed of the animate and inanimate, so that Niki’s beautiful creatures and Nanas would appear to take on the role of observers, a living stage set with props and actors despite themselves.
Prior to the Nana series, in the early sixties Niki had come to the notice of the art world with her ‘Tirs’ or shootings. The artist would construct elaborate assemblages of found, household or cast-off objects, often displayed in an altar-like shape, or affixed to solid wooden boards to be displayed on walls. The found objects were filled with paint, the entire set being then painted itself. Standing well back from the artwork, Niki would raise a .22 rifle to her shoulder and shoot at different elements of the display, Paint would explode out of the shattered elements and spatter the artwork. With this, Niki became the only woman member of the influential Franco-international Nouveau Réaliste movement.
Niki’s world is not just populated by Nanas; equally ubiquitous are her creatures and animals, fabled or not. The screenprint I am a beautiful camel is a case in point. A speech bubble allows the camel to proclaim this, but what of the other animals that populate the page? They too are beautiful, because the artist sees all creatures this way. Think of the intertwined snakes which adorned the bottle top of Niki’s brand of perfume, so beautiful that it is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert.
Niki’s world was always populated by people too, a small army of assistants and project managers, film makers and reporters, acolytes and admirers, critics and art historians. Wherever Niki was working, she would be surrounded by her creations and creatures, who seemed to intermingle with this wide array of human beings in attendance on the artist. A crowded space would be composed of the animate and inanimate, so that Niki’s beautiful creatures and Nanas would appear to take on the role of observers, a living stage set with props and actors despite themselves.
