From Social Criticism, Nanas and Shooting Pictures
From September 2 to January 8, around 100 works by a provocative, progressive as well as socially critical artist will fill the exhibition space of the Kunsthaus Zürich. A retrospective of the Nana creator Niki de Saint Phalle shows her work in all its facets.
The colorful, spherical Nana figures were her flagship: the French artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930 - 2002) made history with them. Her oeuvre also includes painting and drawing, assemblages, actions, other large-format sculptures, and her participation in theater, film, and architecture. Her Shooting Pictures, with which she criticized the patriarchy, are considered legendary today. To do this, she aimed a rifle at her assemblages, whereupon paint dripped out of the bullet holes like blood.
With around 100 works, the Kunsthaus Zürich is dedicating a retrospective to the great artist starting on September 2. The exhibition aims to capture de Saint Phalle in her entirety beyond the Nanas. For example, it also turns to the Shooting Pictures that, according to the Kunsthaus, were created in provocative actions as early as the 1960s and thus made a decisive contribution to the art form of performance, which is highly topical today. The retrospective is on view until January 8, 2023.