About the artwork
Part of a series of drawings created for the scenography of the piece ICH, all About me, this silkscreen presents a corpus of elements from Niki de Saint Phalle's imagination, including one of her Nanas, a stabbed monster, a sun and a key. Co-written with Rainer von Diez for Documenta in Kassel in 1968, this piece presents the story of a woman through eleven symbolic and fantastical scenes, from baptism to war and marriage. Niki de Saint Phalle calls it a "visual poem". Characteristic of the artist's colorful, whimsical and marvelous style, this large-scale silkscreen offers a narrative vision of the main character's state of mind as he searches for the key to the treasure, a key that Niki de Saint Phalle offers us a representation of here. The silkscreen presents a corpus of elements from Niki de Saint Phalle's imagination, including one of her Nanas, a stabbing monster, a sun and a key. Co-written with Rainer von Diez for Documenta in Kassel in 1968, this piece presents the story of a woman through eleven symbolic and fantastical scenes, from baptism to war and marriage. Niki de Saint Phalle calls it a "visual poem". Characteristic of the artist's colorful, whimsical and marvelous style, this large silkscreen offers a narrative vision of the main character's states of mind as she searches for the key to the treasure, a key that Niki de Saint Phalle offers us a representation of here.
Expert opinion
This silkscreen comes from a series of drawings created by Niki de Saint Phalle for the play ICH, All about me, co-written in 1968 with German director Rainer von Diez. Premiered at Documenta in Kassel, the piece is made up of these drawings, which are filmed and projected onto the stage. This one is particularly important for its narrative, showing the key to the character's quest. This edition is mentioned in the artist's catalog raisonné (Ulm Chenivesse 37).
About the artist
A major artist of the 20th century, Niki de Saint Phalle emphasized femininity, performance and collaboration, while rejecting notions of solitary male genius. Developing an exuberant practice, she left her mark on art history with her shooting paintings and her Nanas, voluptuous, colorful female sculptures. Prolific, she doesn't limit herself to one medium, creating engravings as well as books, films, theater sets, clothing, jewelry and perfumes.
The many commissions she receives punctuate public and private spaces around the world, from the Stravinsky fountain near the Centre Pompidou in Paris to the sculpture park of the Tarot Garden in Italy. Works by Saint Phalle are included in the collections of the Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), Museum Ludwig (Cologne, Germany), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Tate (London, UK), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA) and Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, USA). In 2021, MoMA PS1 organized a major retrospective of the artist's work.
Additional info
Signed
Dated
Framed
3x
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