THOSE SACRES NANAS

septembre 25, 2014

The fountain in front of the Grand Palais

Remember how I mixed up Niki de Saint Phalle and Nicolas de Stäel (Le Havre in July. THE "SEAS" I REALLY LOVE )? I have seen a lot of Niki’s work over the years. Statues in gardens, close to the Beaubourg centre, in Switzerland and the Tinguely foundation. They amused me - but no more. In fact her worked seemed to be rather repetitive with the Nanas. There is a retrospective of her work at the moment at the Grand Palais. One of the largest since she died 12 years ago. I know a few people who always go on the first day to such events. I decided to take the plunge and was right to do so. Apart from a couple of groups, there were very few people at opening time but when I left some three hours later, I could see this would be a block buster.

How many people though would try to look at her work and fathom it out? I saw at once that she is not known from my point of view for her wide palette.

She was born in 1930, the scion of a Franco- American family which could actually trace its descendent back to the Crusades ! A very upper-class upbringing in New York. Model, then married as one had to do, children and her story could have stopped there. She didn’t. Rebellious, sensitive and probably a show-off. She was certainly eccentric and beautiful with it.

With her Nanas

Vogue Magazine

It was in the 50’s that she decided to become a full time artist. Painting « calmed the chaos and helped to tame the dragons which appeared in her work » Self taught which of course made her work unique. The wonderful part though is that she was able to introduce her dual culture into large paintings - many reminiscent of Jackson Pollock, Jean Fautrier and even Jean Dubuffet.

Pink nude in Landscape 1959

Abstract like Jackson Pollock 1959

She seemed to work alike Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns combining guns, tools and other objects into her work.

ASSEMBLAGE

Landscape Assemblage 1959

Two guns and one Knife 1960-61

She was rebellious, politically involved, antiracist …..it was during a visit to Barcelona in the late 50’s that she is obviously influenced by Guadi and one can see this in her magnificent auto portrait where there are rocks, shells, coffee beans and lot more integrated into this work. But somehow I found that this portrait showed just how lonely she seemed to be and probably disturbed with it.

Autoportrait 1958-59

Niki left her husband and children in 1960 and once again becomes morbid and is finally diagnosed as a schizophrenic. But she’s no longer alone as this fury comes out in her paintings and sculptures. Her work is violent and this starts her work where she « shoots » onto a surface. Usually there are people around her and this period continues for three years. « Shooting Painting American Embassy » in 1961 is created after a concert of John Cage. I certainly can understand what her feelings were about this composer. Mine are similar.

Shooting as you want to 1965

Shooting painting - American Embassy 1961

What she fought against

A Voodoo piece. beginning of 1961

Grand Tir - Stockhlm 1961

Hors-d'Oeuvre or portrait of my lover 1960

Niki was bought up in an extremely religious Roman Catholic background and becomes an atheist rapidly. But her work too shows just how much she wanted peace and affinity amongst all religious and all politicians.

Kennedy-Khrouchtchev 1962

King Kong 1962 - middle

King Kong 1962 -left side

King Kong 1962 - right side

King Kong 1962 - politicians

The Red Cathedral 1962

The Alter of Innocents - 1962

Motocycle Heart - 1965

Skull - meditation room 1990

Ideal Temple 1974-1986

Totem

Noha's Ark

Guns 2001

What she is best known for though are her Nanas. Huge, grotesque women. Those women around her in her youth had been brought up to believe that the end all was marriage and childbirth. These works cannot be smiled out. They are strong and in many ways make a statement which I feel most people do not necessarily see.   Just as her Black Nanas do. One especially who refused to give up her seat in a bus to a white and was saved by Martin Luther King.
That was Black Rosy or Rosa Parks who fought against racial segregation in the US.

The Bride or Eva Maria 1963

The Bride's Horse 1964

Leto or the Crucifixion 1965

The Bride (or Miss Haversham's Dream or when you love somebody) 1965

The Bride under the Tree - 1964

The bride is dead

The White Goddess - 1963

Rose giving birth 1964

Monster woman 1963

Ghea giving birth 1964

Nana sitting, Lil or Tony 1965

Benedicte -1965

Elisabeth 1965

Sketch for a Nana

Black Nana upside down 1965-66

They ate and ate and ate

A sunday walk 1971

La Toilette 1978

Black Rosy or My heart belongs to Rosy 1965

Niki drew from a very early age and as an adult she invented stories, wrote letters to friends and the crisis that followed with Tinguely in the 1960’s inspired many love letters and drawings too.

I didn’t say anything about Jean Tinguely, did I? Yet you have seen quite a lot of his work either when I was in Basel or elsewhere. She met him in 1959 and once separated from her husband she soon lived with Jean. Theirs is a fiery and very creative relationship - I would think explosive but they do marry in 1971. Reading all they did together and watching the films makes me think that they were perhaps one of the most creative couples of the 20th century. I have never visited her Tarots Gardens in Switzerland and doubt if I will. Her work is extremely provocative, making statements politically, for the emancipation of women, HIV. if you really look at it closely you see a lot more that just the cursory glance I have always given it. I’m glad I have learnt much more because now I can stand back and just smile……