Artist. Born in 1930,
Neuilly-sur-Seine,
France. Raised in
NYC. Lived in
California until her death on 22 May, 2002.
If anything, Niki is unusual. Her earlier
style was
montage/
collage mixed with
religious themes. I've never quite understood what she was getting at -- she'll have
alters that are covered with the various
body parts of
plastic dolls. They're eerie.
In later
phases, her worked turned to the
Nanas - large metal forms covered in polyester which resemble most often overweight women. For Niki, they were a
sign of
strength,
maternity,
warmth,
compassion. In her art,
men rarely show up and when they do they are most often
animals. Either they are
evil dragons and
demons or they are
birds of
protection.
Niki, in that she was heavily into
mysticism and
Tarot, eventually developed an entire
park (the
Tarot Garden) in the
Bretagne region of
France where each of the
cards of
Tarot deck are presented at supra-
human scale. The
buildings are covered with
mirrors and
painted
surfaces - the effect is that of a
wonderland.
Although,
I myself am not big into mysticism, I find Niki's
art amusing and often quite impressive. It's worth a look in any case.