Artists & Artworks
Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002)
Les Trois Grâces (The Three Graces)
Born in France, Catherine-Marie-Agnès Fal “Niki” de
Saint Phalle grew up in New York City. A self-taught
painter, she was inspired by the creative architectural
work of Antonio Gaudí to use diverse materials in her
own work, and to create plans for a sculpture garden.
The only woman artist in the Nouveau Réalisme group,
de Saint Phalle developed the “Nana” series of which
The Three Graces are an example. Concerned with the
roles of women in society, she created these large, strong,
voluptuous, archetypal female figures, which are temporarily installed across from the National Museum of
Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. The dynamic
pieces in her massive sculptural environments celebrate
diversity and love with fantastic characters and mythical creatures encrusted
with glass, mirror, stone,
ceramic, and shell mosaics.
Niki de Saint Phalle‘s
delightful environments
and whimsical structures are designed and created to
encourage imaginative and playful activities.
pop art movements of the 1960s, Kusama is not content
to limit herself to paintings and installations. Throughout her career, she has staged outrageous happenings
in public places like Central Park and the Museum
of Modern Art. Although polka dots have become her
trademark, Kusama often experiments with other media
including printmaking, fashion design, and sculpture.
Hymn of Life: Tulips is an energetic, brightly colored
public outdoor sculpture made of fiberglass, ceramic tile,
and steel, and is Kusama’s first permanent installation in
the United States.
“As an artist you can let your fantasy go.”
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) Hymn of Life: Tulips
Japanese-born artist Yayoi Kusama approaches serious
topics from a lively, abstract perspective. A self-proclaimed obsessive artist, she has created thousands of
works. Most often associated with the avant–garde and
Jeff Koons (b. 1955) Tulips
What do an enormous silver rabbit, a gilded porcelain
statue of Michael Jackson, and a forty-three-foot high
West Highland terrier sculpture made out of flowers have
in common? They are all
the creations of American
artist Jeff Koons. Koons
chooses, familiar objects
and transforms them into
towering, glitzy icons. The subjects and surfaces of his
artworks can be both seductive and repulsive, forcing the
viewer to think about aesthetic taste and values. Some-
times his works bring a smile, a memory of childhood
revisited; other times the imagery is so outrageous that
it verges on the absurd. Jeff Koons’ Tulips, for instance,
are immense, color-coated chrome forms. Bearing none
of the delicate qualities of the natural flower, Koons’
rendition is playful yet unsettling as the voluminous
balloon-like forms obscure the weight of the sculpture.
His works have garnered unprecedented prices for a liv-
ing artist, an irony that has not gone unnoticed by his
critics.
—Jeff Koons
Elizabeth Murray (1940–2007) Stirring Still
Elizabeth Murray approached her art playfully and energetically. Cleverly incorporating domestic subject matter,
like the snuggling coffee cups of Stirring Still, and subtle, personal narratives into her imagery, Murray often
used her palette knife to liberally layer textures and
manipulate colors to create movement and depth. Using
numerous thumbnail sketches to develop large, brightly
colored abstract paintings, she rearranged lively shapes
until, as she said, they “made her smile.” In her later
artworks, ideas that came quickly were “scribbled” in a
sketchbook then reworked and enlarged. These animated
images were cut apart, covered with canvas and mounted
together creating pockets of negative space. Murray then
applied multiple layers of paint, often creating depth and
texture by adding paint or scraping it away with her palette knife. She felt that unity was achieved when she was
surprised by the result and laughed out loud.
Niki de Saint Phalle, Queen Califa’s Magical Circle, 2003. Kit Carson Park, Escondido, California. Polystyrene, polyurethane, fiberglass, steel armature, glass mosaics, mirrors, stones, ceramics; 120 feet in diameter, dimensions vary. Photo ©2004 Philipp
Scholz Rittermann. ©2010 Niki Charitable Art Foundation. All rights reserved/ARS, N Y/ADAGP, Paris.
