Press Releases

QUEBEC, 30 APRIL 2012 — La Manif d’art 6 donne le coup d’envoi de la biennale de Québec. Ayant pour thème Machines – Les formes du mouvement, l’événement est sous le commissariat de Nicole Gingras. Du 2 au 5 mai se tiendront l’Avant-première ainsi que les vernissages de la sélection officielle. Le public est chaleureusement invité à participer à ce grand dévoilement dans 14 lieux de Québec et Lévis.

L’Avant-première de la Manif d’art 6, l’événement VIP culturel de l’été, a lieu le mercredi 2 mai de 17 h à 20 h 30 à l’Espace 400e Bell. Au coût de 50 $, profitez en primeur du dévoilement du lieu central de la biennale. Des visites guidées en petits groupes seront offertes pour découvrir les expositions avant l’ouverture officielle. Lors de la soirée, un vin d’honneur et des bouchées gourmandes seront également servis.

Le jeudi 3 mai, le grand public est invité au vernissage de l’exposition de Diane Landry au Musée de l’Amérique française. En parcourant Correspondances, le visiteur sera entraîné dans un espace habité par différentes machines et inventions mises en relation avec des sculptures et des installations de Diane Landry, réalisées entre 1996 et 2012.

Par la suite, à 20 h 30, les visiteurs sont conviés au vernissage de l’exposition centrale à l’Espace 400e Bell. Cette exposition d’envergure regroupe les œuvres de 16 artistes, soit Yann Farley, Mounir Fatmi, Louise Faure et Anne Julien, Arthur Ganson, Rube Goldberg, Brion Gysin et Ian Sommerville, Joseph Herscher, Marla Hlady, Manon Labrecque, Diane Obomsawin, Stansfield/Hooykaas, Martin Tétreault et Karel Zeman. L’artiste Martin Tétreault offrira une performance à 21 h et à 22 h et le party Manif d’art 6 débutera à 23 h 30.

Le vendredi 4 mai, le Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) lance l’exposition de François Mathieu. Avec De l’air et du plomb, nouvelle installation sculpturale présentée dans la rotonde du MNBAQ, François Mathieu poursuit sa quête de l’envol et propose une machine faite pour voyager. À 18 h, une conférence de l’artiste américain Mark Pauline sera donnée dans l’auditorium du MNBAQ. Veuillez réserver votre place à info@premiereovation.com.

À 21 h suivra le vernissage de l’exposition de Jacques Samson au Grand Théâtre de Québec. Créée spécifiquement pour ce lieu, Excroissances, une installation cinétique en deux parties, sera visible de l’extérieur du bâtiment par la rue Turnbull. Jacques Samson expose également à la galerie du Grand Théâtre de Québec une série d’esquisses préparatoires à l’installation Excroissances.

Le samedi 5 mai, dernière journée de vernissages, les visiteurs sont conviés à découvrir les expositions suivantes : à 13 h, Regart présente Adaptative Actions d’Erika Lincoln; à 15 h, la chambre blanche présente GAMMAvert – a X-SEA-SCAPES de Jan-Peter E.R. Sonntag; à 16 h, la Galerie des arts visuels présente Hypoxia de Jean-Pierre Gauthier; à 17 h, MATERIA présente Bestiaire d’Ingrid Bachmann; à 18 h, Le Lieu présente Rotation sous différents angles de Kanta Horio. À 19 h, cinq organismes de la Coopérative Méduse lancent également leurs expositions respectives : Diane Morin chez Avatar; Marla Hlady et Jean Tinguely chez Engramme; Minibloc et Mounir Fatmi à L’Œil de Poisson; Jean-François Dugas, Jérôme Minière et Marie-Pierre Normand à La Bande Vidéo et Manon Labrecque à VU PHOTO.

Laissez-passer
Le laissez-passer est obligatoire pour participer aux activités de la biennale et pour visiter les lieux d’exposition faisant partie de la sélection officielle. Il est composé d’un macaron et du programme officiel. De format poche, cet outil contient tous les renseignements sur les lieux d’expositions, sur les artistes et sur les activités présentées.

Coût
Général : 12 $
Étudiant (carte étudiante obligatoire) : 10 $
Moins de 12 ans (accompagné d’un adulte) : gratuit
Forfait pour deux : 18 $ (2 macarons et un programme)
Le laissez-passer sera en vente dans tous les lieux d’exposition de la sélection officielle ainsi qu’à la bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy dès le 3 mai.

Le laissez-passer sera en vente dès le 3 mai dans tous les lieux d’exposition de la sélection officielle ainsi qu’à la bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy, à la Galerie Tzara, au Musée huron-wendat, au Best Western de Québec et à la librairie Formats du RCAAQ à Montréal. La programmation complète se trouve sur l’application mobile disponible pour téléphones iPhone et Android ainsi que sur le site web http://www.manifdart.org/manif6/.

Du 3 mai au 3 juin, les visiteurs seront invités à suivre le parcours artistique et à participer aux nombreuses activités qui évoluent autour du thème Machines – Les formes du mouvement. En ajoutant les activités satellites à la sélection officielle, la biennale de Québec rassemble cette année plus de 80 artistes répartis dans près de 30 lieux de Québec, Lévis et Wendake.

Source : Patrick Fournier, coordonnateur aux communications, Manif d’art, 418 524-1917, communication@manifdart.org

PRESS RELEASEBECHTLER MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
 
 

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, 22 MARCH 2011 — The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art presents Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology now through October 3, 2011. The exhibition celebrates the artist’s extraordinary appetite for myths and legends as interpreted through dynamic and often provocative sculpture, paintings and prints. The Bechtler offers 55 works inside the museum and five large-scale outdoor sculptures across the street in Wells Fargo’s public park, The Green, in addition to the Firebird sculpture that graces the museum’s plaza.

Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology is made possible with a generous grant from Wells Fargo Private Bank.

“Wells Fargo Private Bank is pleased to be the presenting sponsor of this compelling exhibition,” commented Madelyn Caple, Wells Fargo Private Bank Regional Director. “Niki de Saint Phalle’s approach to art was both intellectually rigorous and playful all at once. Her work is appealing and intriguing to both adults and children, established and novice museum goers and those with a natural curiosity about modern art. The installation at The Green, a Wells Fargo property, will allow the public to engage with the art seven days a week through fall of this year in a beautiful outdoor space.” Caple adds, “This unique installation is a natural way for us to continue our already significant investment in the development of Uptown Charlotte’s cultural facilities.”

Niki, as she preferred to be called, was one of the most significant and unconventional female artists of the 20th century. She burst upon the art world in the 1960s as a provocative and wildly independent artist whose life and work were equally flamboyant. She became the only female member of the avant-garde Nouveau Réalistes, a contemporary of America’s Pop art movement, and collaborated with leading artists of the day including Yves Klein, Christo and Jean Tinguely, whom she later married.

She is best known for her series of “Nanas,” voluminous female forms often constructed in joyful, dance-like poses, and large-scale installations such as the Stravinsky Fountain near the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Tarot Garden in Tuscany. Niki’s work often reflected her life and revealed her opinions about femininity, mythology, fairytales, violence and personal anxiety. She died in 2002 of pneumonia, her lungs damaged by decades of breathing polyester fiber used in the creation of many of her works.

The works in Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology range from the whimsical and wondrous to dark and serious. The exhibition relies on a handful of interconnected ideas and opinions to reveal the intellectual depth and reach of Niki’s engagement with the worlds of myth, legend, religion and cultural archetypes. Many works by Niki are set in fantastic surroundings — dreamscapes populated by strange creatures, combinations of animals out of place with each other and their environment, sometimes threatening, other times benevolent and peaceful. Niki passed through various stages in her evolution as an intellectual, an artist and a woman and viewers will see several of these stages throughout the works in this exhibition.

Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology provides intellectual inquiry mixed with a sense of provocation, joy and delight. The exhibition marks the first time the Bechtler has displayed works from outside its collection. Fifty-nine of the 60 works are on loan from the Niki Charitable Arts Foundation. The whimsical and boldly colored sculptures, prints and tableaux éclatés (kinetic wall sculptures) represent five decades of the artist’s career.

A principal objective of the Bechtler’s exhibition program is to bring greater insight and understanding to the works in the museum’s collection. One of the primary ways to achieve that goal is to put artwork in the larger context of the artist’s career. Therefore, the Bechtler will seek to borrow works from individuals and other institutions, such as the Niki Charitable Arts Foundation, that will provide that context historically, biographically, but most importantly, artistically. This exhibition provides greater meaning to the Bechtler’s Niki de Saint Phalle holdings, the Firebird in particular, by presenting so many other works that demonstrate the same subject matter and interests of the artist.

Outdoor Sculptures

Niki’s outdoor sculptures are admired by audiences across the globe. Her playful, larger-than-life creations are constructed from fiberglass, colorful stones, glass, mirrors and ceramic tiles. The total weight of the five sculptures included in the Bechtler exhibition is 13,046 pounds. In partnership with Wells Fargo, which owns the 1.5 acre landscaped park atop a four-level parking structure across the street from the Bechtler, the works have been strategically placed throughout the space based upon the weight of each piece.

Visitors are encouraged to touch the outdoor works. The artist especially enjoyed seeing children climbing on her animal sculptures. Cat, on view in the Bechtler’s exhibition, is meant to be explored from the inside out as is La Cabeza, the brightly colored skull that sits along the Tryon Street side of the park.

Also included among the outdoor works are sculptures of Miles Davis and Tiger Woods (Golf Player), two figures from Niki’s Black Heroes series, which portrays famous African-American musicians and athletes.

Currently, audio commentary for only the Miles Davis and La Cabeza sculptures is accessible by mobile phone. Audio for the remaining three sculptures will follow at a later date. The phone numbers will appear on the exhibition label for each artwork.

Exhibition-related Programming

Jazz at the Bechtler (April 1). This popular music series moves outside and across the street to The Green for a tribute to Miles Davis performed near Niki de Saint Phalle’s sculpture of the musician. 6 to 8 p.m. Admission fee to be determined.

Film (April 15). Monster in the Forest: The Story of the Cyclop is an art-house film about the collaborative efforts of Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle in the creation of the Cyclop, a monumental sculpture located on the outskirts of Paris. Museum video gallery, 6 p.m. Free with museum admission.

One Work lecture (April 18). Vive Moi, a sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle, will be the focus of a discussion led by museum President and CEO John Boyer. Fourth-floor gallery, 6 p.m. Free for members and $10 for non-members.

Music and Museum Series (April 29 and May 1). Performances of Chamber Music and Jazz: The Fusion Cabaret will feature music composed by Claude Bolling and William Bolcom paired with artwork by Niki de Saint Phalle. Lobby, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for museum members, $20 for non-members.

Family Day (May 7). Kids of all ages can experiment with methods and materials addressed in the Niki de Saint Phalle exhibition. Activities will be held on the museum plaza, in the lobby and across the street in The Green, noon to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free for those under 18 years old; all others receive a discounted ticket price of $4.

Open to the public 18 March – 3 October 2011

Media Contact

Pam Davis
Director of Communications and Marketing
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
704.353.9204 (office)
704.975.2363 (mobile)
pam.davis@bechtler.org

PRESS RELEASE  NOHRA HAIME GALLERY
 
 

Open to the public 1–7 March 2011

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 1 MARCH 2011 — Niki de Saint Phalle’s colossal mosaic sculpture, The Star Fountain (Blue) (1999), will be on view free and open to the public at the 2011 Times Square Show, a major large-scale outdoor group exhibition on Broadway and 42nd Street, from March 1 through 7, 2011.

Wittily executed in the artist’s signature sparkling colors, The Star Fountain (Blue) depicts a flamboyant and playful ‘Nana’ that juggles two large pitchers from which water constantly cascades. Standing nearly 10 feet tall, and made of polyurethane foam, resin, steel armature, glass pebbles, ceramic tiles, mirror and stained glass, the voluptuous female figure is an archetype of feminine power and strength. Decorated with cosmic symbols and stars in shades of white, red, yellow and blue, the majestic Nana celebrates motherhood, sensuality, love and life — themes recurrently explored by Saint Phalle.

The sculpture’s illusory effects of light and color and the use of water create a magnetic attraction and meditative sensory experience. Installed in the heart of New York’s theater district, its mirrored and stained glass tesserae, reflecting the city’s flickering lights and vibration, provide a rare opportunity to dive into Saint Phalle’s realm — one of whimsy and fantasy.

Internationally acclaimed for her oversized, voluptuous female figures, Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) was a French-American, self-taught sculptor, painter and film maker of international prominence. She is best known for her public sculptures, such as the Stravinsky Fountain next to the Centre Pompidou in Paris (1983), the Tarot Garden at Garavicchio in southern Tuscany (1998), the Grotto in Hannover’s Royal Herrenhausen Garden (2003), and Queen Califia’s Magical Circle in California (2003). Saint Phalle, who began her career as an artist in the 1950s, was awarded the 12th Praemium Imperial Prize, considered to be the equivalent to the Nobel Prize in the art world, in Japan in 2000. Born in 1930, in Neuilly sur Seine, Saint Phalle died in 2002 at the age of 71 in La Jolla, California.

This work is presented by the Nohra Haime Gallery, with the support of the Niki Charitable Art Foundation, in collaboration with the Armory Art Show and the Times Square Alliance.

The Nohra Haime Gallery represents the Niki Charitable Art Foundation.

PLACE: Times Square on Broadway and 42nd Street, New York City

DATES: March 1-7, 2011

RECEPTION: March 1st from 7-9 p.m. at the Times Square Visitor Center

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ana Maria de la Ossa at 212-888-3550 or gallery@nohrahaimegallery.com

PRESS RELEASE  SCHUNCK* HEERLEN
 
 

HEERLEN, NETHERLANDS, 10 FEBRUARY 2011 — On the occasion of the exhibition “Niki de Saint Phalle: Outside-In,” SCHUNCK* Heerlen in the Netherlands has organized, in collaboration with VIA 2018 / Maastricht Candidate European Capital of Culture 2018, a unique “Hon-inspired project” within the Euroregion.

One of the most legendary projects of Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) was her famous “Hon – a Cathedral” for the Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 1966. Hon was a gigantic reclining female figure, a kind of “earth mother” 28 meters long, carried out in Niki’s characteristic Nana style of that time. But Hon was more than a giant Nana sculpture. Through the vagina, visitors could gain access to the interior of “Hon,” where they could visit an exhibition space, a small movie theatre, a planetarium, an aquarium and a “milkbar.”

Curious about the form and content of a 21st-century Hon, we challenged high school students from seven different schools in the Euroregion to design a sculpture and its content inspired by the Hon.

An expert jury has visited all schools on January 19 and 20 and selected Institut Saint-Laurent in Liège as the winner. They created a contemporary polar bear named “Tosca.” This she-bear enables visitors to experience her interior and makes you think about the environment, birth, and sustainability.

The participating schools are:

• Institut Saint-Laurent (Liège, Belgium)
• Geschwister Scholl Gymnasium (Aachen, Germany)
• KTA2 Villers (Hasselt, Belgium)
• Rombouts College (Brunssum, Netherlands)
• Robert Schuman Institut (Eupen, Belgium)
• Sophianum College (Wittem, Netherlands)
• Trevianum (Sittard, Netherlands)

The winning design will be executed life-size and can be admired and enjoyed from late March up to mid-June 2011 at the Pancratiusplein in Heerlen.

The exhibition “Niki de Saint Phalle: Outside-In” will be on display at SCHUNCK* from February 26 through June 19, 2011. For more information, see www.schunck.nl.

PRESS RELEASEINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ART CRITICS
 
 

ANNUAL ARTS AWARDS TO HONOR ARTISTS, MUSEUMS & CURATORS

U. S. ART CRITICS ASSOCIATION (AICA-USA) ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS

 
JANUARY 23, 2011 — NEW YORK: The US section of the International Association of Art Critics/AICA-USA announces its annual awards to honor artists, curators, museums, galleries and other cultural institutions in recognition of excellence in the conception and realization of exhibitions. The winning projects were nominated and voted on by the 400 active members to honor outstanding exhibitions of the previous season (June 2009-June 2010). The 26 winners of first and second places in twelve categories, selected from over one hundred finalists, include exhibitions focusing on contemporary artists Marina Abramović, Tino Seghal and Cai Guo-Qiang, the mid-20th century artists Arshile Gorky and Yves Klein and the 19th-century and early 20th-century masters Henri Matisse, Otto Dix and Claude Monet, as well as thematic exhibitions dealing with the presence of women artists in pop art, history of performance art, and the Bauhaus.

Awards will be presented by a group of distinguished curators and artists, the former winners of AICA Awards, among them Chuck Close, Christo, and Martin Puryear. The Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Modern Art at the Institute of Fine Arts/New York University Linda Nochlin will present the Special Award to Elizabeth C. Baker. Artistic component of the evening will include screening of a video by William Kentridge. Eleanor Heartney and Marek Bartelik will serve as MCs for the evening.

This year’s Nominating Committee included: Eleanor Heartney (Chair), Marek Bartelik (AICA-USA President), Rachel Wolff (AICA-USA Vice-President), Barbara MacAdam (AICA-USA Board), Debra B. Balken, Michael Duncan, and Jeanne Claire van Ryzin.

 
UPDATE

The awards ceremony, which has been held annually for more than 25 years, will take place at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art on March 14, 2011 at 6 p.m. Awards will be presented by a group of distinguished artists and curators. Elizabeth C. Baker will be honored with a special Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Field of Criticism. Museum curators, artists and critics from around the country are expected to attend. A select number of seats will be available to the public. Members of the public may contact aicausaprogram@gmail.com for more information about attending the event.

 
The Association is pleased to announce the following winners of its 2010 awards:

 
1. BEST PROJECT IN A PUBLIC SPACE

First Place:
“Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms”
Organized by the Fabric Workshop and Museum and Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Curated by Marion Boulton Stroud, Carlos Basualdo, and Adelina Vlas

Second Places:
“Duke Riley: Those About to Die Salute You”
Organized by the Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY
Curated by Hitomi Iwasaki

“Antony Gormley: Event Horizon”
Organized by Madison Square Park Conservancy, New York, NY
Curated by Debbie Landau

 
2. BEST SHOW IN A NON-PROFIT GALLERY OR SPACE

First Place:
“Leon Golub: Live & Die like a Lion?”
Organized by The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Curated by Brett Littman

Second Place:
“Ree Morton: At the Still Point of the Turning World”
Organized by The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Curated by João Ribas

 
3. BEST SHOW IN A UNIVERSITY GALLERY

First Place:
“Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield”
Organized by the Hammer Museum of Art, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Curated by Robert Gober

Second Place:
“Tania Bruguera: On the Political Imaginary”
Organized by Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, NY
Curated by Helaine Posner

 
4. BEST ARCHITECTURE OR DESIGN SHOW

First Place:
“Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity”
Organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY in cooperation with the Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, and the Klassik Stiftung Weimar
Curated by Barry Bergdoll and Leah Dickerman

Second Places:
“Dead or Alive: Nature Becomes Art”
Organized by The Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Curated by David Revere McFadden and Lowery Stokes Sims

“…OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project (by Krzysztof Wodiczko)”
Organized by The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Curated by Randi Hopkins

 
5. BEST SHOW INVOLVING DIGITAL MEDIA, VIDEO, FILM OR PERFORMANCE

First Place:
“Tino Sehgal”
Organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Curated by Nancy Spector

Second Place:
“William Kentridge, I Am Not Me, the Horse is Not Mine”
Organized by Performa, as part of Performa 09, Cedar Lake, NY
Curated by RoseLee Goldberg

 
6. BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL GALLERY IN NEW YORK

First Place:
“Claude Monet”
Organized by Gagosian Gallery
Curated by Paul Hayes Tucker

Second Place:
“Primary Atmospheres: Works for California 1960-1970”
Organized by David Zwirner
Curated by Tim Nye and Kristine Bell

 
7. BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL GALLERY NATIONALLY

First Place:
“Lines, Shapes and Shadows: Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback, Richard Tuttle and Sol LeWitt”
Organized by Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA
Curated by Barbara Krakow and Andrew Witkin

Second Place:
“Noriko Ambe: キル – Artist Books, Linear-Actions Cutting Project”
Organized by Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin, TX
Curated by Glenn Fuhrman

 
8. BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK

First Place:
“Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present”
Organized by the Museum of Modern Art
Curated by Klaus Biesenbach

Second Place:
“Alias Man Ray: The Art of Reinvention”
Organized by The Jewish Museum
Curated by Mason Klein

 
9. BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY

First Place:
“Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917”
Organized by the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Curated by Stephanie D’Alessandro and John Elderfield

Second Place:
“Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective”
Organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA in association with Tate Modern, London and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Curated by Michael Taylor

 
10. BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK

First Place:
“In & Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art, 1960–1976”
Organized by the Museum of Modern Art
Curated by Christophe Cherix

Second Place:
“100 Years (version #2, ps1, nov 2009)”
Organized by MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY and Performa
Curated by Klaus Biesenbach and RoseLee Goldberg with additional curatorial advice from Jenny Schlenzka

 
11. BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY

First Place:
“Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968”
Organized by Rosenwald-Wolf, Hamilton Hall & Borowsky Galleries, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Curated by Sid Sachs

Second Place:
“Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s-1950s”
Organized by Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Curated by Mary Kate O’Hare

 
12. BEST HISTORICAL MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY

First Place:
“Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers”
Organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Curated by Kerry Brougher and Philippe Vergne

Second Place:
“Otto Dix”
Organized by Neue Galerie, New York, NY
Curated by Olaf Peters

PRESS RELEASE  TUFTS UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
 
 

MEDFORD, MA, 19 JANUARY 2011 – The Tufts University Art Gallery is proud to present the major, large-scale exhibition Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968 in its Tisch Family and Koppelman Galleries and Remis Sculpture Court from January 27 to April 3. Seductive Subversion examines the impact of women artists on the traditionally male-dominated field of Pop art. It reconsiders the narrow definition of the Pop art movement and reevaluates its critical reception. In recovering important female artists, the show expands the canon to reflect more accurately the women working internationally during this period. The exhibition features 70 artworks by 22 artists.

Some of these artists experimented with then-new, industrial materials such as Plexiglas, plastics, rubber, and neon to create unique works of art that responded to the effects of mass-production. Others subverted domestic skills they had learned as young girls to create the first “soft sculpture” using fabrics, plastics, and other found materials that deployed a craft aesthetic as high art. Others appropriated from mass culture, including Hollywood film, advertising, publicity photos, and commercial publishing to critique emergent popular culture and male fantasies about female desire. An eponymous 248-page hard-bound publication, co-edited by Sid Sachs and Kalliopi Minoudaki, with essays by Bradford Collins, Kalliopi Minioudaki, Patty Mucha, Linda Nochlin, Annika Ôhrner, Martha Rosler, Sid Sachs, and Sue Tate is available; price is $50 plus shipping and handling. Please contact: Hannah Swartz, 617-627-3094 or hannah.swartz@tufts.edu to request a copy.

Originally organized by the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery of The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and curated by Sid Sachs, additional curatorial contributions to the exhibition have been made by Catherine Morris, Curator of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum. The Tufts presentation has been organized by Amy Ingrid Schlegel, director of galleries and collections at Tufts University. This project has been funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative with additional support from the Marketing Innovation Program. This project was also supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. At Tufts, this presentation is made possible in part by the Kenneth A. Aidekman Family Foundation and Edward S. Merrin.

Artists Included in Seductive Subversion: Eveylne Axell (1935-1972); Pauline Boty (1938-1966); Vija Celmins (b. 1938); Chryssa (b. 1933); Niki de Saint Phalle (1932-2002); Rosalyn Drexler (b. 1926); Letty Eisenhauer (b. 1935); Dorothy Grebenak (1913-1990); Jann Haworth (b. 1942); Dorothy Iannone (b. 1933); Kiki Kogelnik (1935- 1997); Kay Kurt (b. 1944); Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929); Lee Lozano (1930-1999); Marisol (b. 1930); Mara McAfee (1929-1984); Barbro Östlihn (1930-1995); Faith Ringgold (b. 1930); Martha Rosler (b. 1943); Marjorie Strider (b. 1934); Idelle Weber (b. 1932); Joyce Wieland (1931-1998); May Wilson (1905-1986).

 
ART GALLERY NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968
at Tufts University Art Gallery
January 27 to April 3, 2011

Contact:
Hannah Swartz
(617) 627-3094
artgallery@tufts.edu

Tufts University Art Gallery
@ The Aidekman Arts Center
40 Talbot Avenue
Medford, MA 02155
http://artgallery.tufts.edu

 
Image: Martha Rosler, Woman Vacuuming Pop Art, 1966‐72, Photomontage, 24 x 20 inches; Courtesy of the Artist and Mitchell‐Innes & Nash, New York; copyright the artist.

 
ABOUT THE TUFTS UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY

The Tufts University Art Gallery animates the intellectual life of the greater university community through exhibitions and programs exploring new, global perspectives on art and on art discourse. The Gallery is fully accessible and admission is free ($3 suggested donation). Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11:00am to 5:00pm & Thursdays until 8:00pm. Free event parking is available in the lot behind the Aidekman Arts Center, off Lower Campus Road. During regular visitor hours, there are free visitor parking spots in the Gallery parking lot.

 
RELATED PUBLIC EVENTS

Public Opening Reception:
February 3, 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Special Curatorial Walkthrough of the Exhibition:
February 3, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
With curator Sid Sachs (University of the Arts), in dialogue with TUAG Director Amy Schlegel.

Lunch-time Curatorial Walkthroughs of the Exhibition:
February 18, 12:15-1 p.m.
March 16, 12:15-1 p.m.

Voice Your Vision! Drop-In Guided Tours of the Exhibition
February 10, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
March 31, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
A dynamic, discussion-based approach to directed looking at art. Knowledge of art is not required.

Panel Discussion: “The Legacy of Women Pop Artists”
February 24, 6 to 8 p.m.
Panelists: Kalliopi Minoudaki, art historian and publication co-editor; Catherine Morris, curator (Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum) Idelle Weber, artist.

Panel Discussion: International Women’s Day Celebration, “Women.Make.Art”
March 8, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (Alumni Lounge, Aidekman Arts Center)
Co-sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program, Women’s Center, and Africana Center; panelists TBA.

PRESS RELEASE  KUNSTHALLE WÜRTH, SCHWÄBISCH HALL
 

KÜNZELSAU, GERMANY — The Kunsthalle Würth in Schwäbisch Hall will present the wide-ranging oeuvre of the multifaceted and popular artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) in a large-scale survey exhibition.

Through her paintings, assemblages, shooting paintings, sculptures, and installations, Niki de Saint Phalle created a unique cosmos that gained her international fame. This exhibition will make abundantly clear the outstanding role she played in shaping and celebrating the feminine aspect of contemporary art in her time. Like no one before her, she gave form to the elemental force of femininity, particularly in her famous Nanas, an archetype of female existence.

With more than 100 works on exhibit, the show — curated by Guido Magnaguagno, former director of the Tinguely Museum in Basel, in cooperation with Bloum Cardenas, granddaughter of the artist — will present sculptures from the Würth Collection alongside works on loan from the Niki Charitable Art Foundation in California and Paris, the Sprengel Museum in Hanover, and the Musée d’Art Moderne in Nice, to which Niki de Saint Phalle donated a large number of works. The show will also include representative works by her long-term partner, Jean Tinguely, and paintings by her first teacher, Hugh Weiss.

A special feature of this exhibition will be the inclusion of films by the artist.

The exhibit will open 17 April and run through 16 October 2011.

For additional information, please visit the web site of the Kunsthalle Würth.
 

Niki de Saint Phalle: Play With Me
17 April – 16 October 2011
Kunsthalle Würth
Schwäbisch Hall
Künzelsau, Germany
 

Auf Deutsch:

In einer großen Übersichtsausstellung wird das weitgespannte Werk der vielseitigen und im besten Sinne populären Künstlerin Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) präsentiert, die mit ihren Gemälden, Assemblagen, Schießbildern, Skulpturen und Installationen einen einzigartigen Kosmos erschaffen hat.

Niki de Saint Phalle hat in prägendem Maß die femininen Eigenschaften der zeitgenössischen Kunst ihrer Zeit hervorragend zelebriert und gestaltet. Sinnbildlich hierfür sind die berühmten „Nanas“.

Die von Guido Magnaguagno, ehemaliger Direktor des Museum Tinguely in Basel, in Zusammenarbeit mit Bloum Cárdenas, Enkelin der Künstlerin, kuratierte Schau mit über 100 Werken stützt sich auf Leihgaben der Niki Charitable Art Foundation in Kalifornien und Paris, dem Sprengel Museum in Hannover und dem Musée d’art moderne in Nizza, ergänzt durch exemplarische Werke ihres langjährigen Begleiters Jean Tinguely und Bilder ihres ersten Lehrers Hugh Weiss.

Integriert ist das häufig separierte Filmschaffen der Künstlerin.
 

PRESS RELEASE  SHELDON MUSEUM OF ART
 
 

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, 27 JULY 2010 — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Sheldon Museum of Art presents “Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists,” the first major exhibition devoted to the work of female Pop artists, opening July 30.

Pop art, more than any other post-World War II art movement, is defined by a small group of American and British male artists. This show, featuring some work that hasn’t been exhibited in more than 40 years, explores the important contributions of women Pop artists.

These female artists found inspiration in many of the same subjects as men, including advertising, celebrities and commercial culture, but they also brought their own experiences to the movement, creating collaborative works, emphasizing handcrafted objects and developing new mediums, such as soft sculpture.

Artists in the exhibition include Idelle Weber, Rosalyn Drexler, Dorothy Grebenak, Chryssa, Marjorie Strider and Vija Celmins, among others.

Sheldon will hold two gallery talks during the course of the show.

Christin Mamiya, associate dean of UNL’s Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, will give a lecture titled “A Woman’s Work is Never Done: Pop Art and the Home” at 5:30pm on August 31.

Sid Sachs, exhibition curator, will give a lecture titled “The Inevitability of Pop” at Sheldon at 5:30pm on September 14. The lectures will take place in the Sheldon’s Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium and are free and open to the public.

“Seductive Subversion” is organized by the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. This project has been funded by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative with additional support from the Marketing Innovation Program. This project was also supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The Nebraska Arts Council and the Sheldon Art Association provided local support.

Sheldon Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects focusing on American art. Sheldon, 12th and R Streets on the UNL City Campus, is open free to the public during regular hours. The museum’s hours are: Tuesday, 10am to 8pm; Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm; Sunday, noon to 5pm; closed Mondays. For information or to arrange a tour, call (402) 472-4524. Additional information is also available at www.sheldon.unl.edu.

WRITER: Sarah Baker-Hansen

 
Released on 07/27/2010, at 10:45am
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska – Lincoln

WHEN: Friday, July 30
WHERE: Sheldon Museum of Art, 12th and R Streets

 
Image: “First Lady (Pat Nixon), 1967-72,” photomontage by Martha Rosler. Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.

PRESS RELEASE  NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS
 

WASHINGTON, DC, 24 FEBRUARY 2010 / PRNewswire-USNewswire — National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) presents the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, a dynamic new space that will enhance D.C.’s public art profile by featuring changing installations of contemporary works by women. The project is organized by NMWA in collaboration with the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District, the D.C. Office of Planning and other agencies.

“Bringing NMWA out into the street has been a dream of the museum. We are grateful to our partners who share our excitement. This project will beautify our city and serve as the first and only major sculpture boulevard in the nation’s capital,'” says NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling.

The New York Avenue Sculpture Project will improve the downtown visual environment following a tradition begun by city planner Pierre L’Enfant in 1791. ”The New York Avenue culture gateway supports major local planning and revitalization initiatives and will be a delightful new destination for D.C.’s 25 million annual visitors.

“This is an exciting new venture for the District and a wonderful testament to the contribution of women in the arts,” says Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Joined by partners, supporters, officials and neighbors, NMWA will dedicate the first phase of the sculpture project — the refurbishment of the 1200 block in front of the museum — on April 28, 2010. The celebration, chaired by Board Members Marcia Carlucci and Marlene Malek, will include community events. The removal of old plant materials, construction of sculpture pads, lighting and landscaping has begun. When all four phases are completed around 2015, four major medians along New York Avenue will be transformed into lively sculpture islands.

The inaugural artist for the New York Avenue Sculpture Project is Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002), a self-taught French sculptor drawn to public art. Her vibrant works celebrate women, children, heroes, diversity and love. Selected with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation and federal and local agencies, the four whimsical sculptures to be installed are part of Saint Phalle’s series of Nanas, Black Heroes, Animals and Totems.

The project is supported by Medda Gudelsky, the Downtown D.C. BID, the Philip L. Graham Fund, the Homer and Martha Gudelsky Family Foundation, NMWA members, the District Department of Transportation and others. NMWA is the only museum dedicated to recognizing the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities. Visit www.nmwa.org/sculptureproject for more information.

 
MEDIA CONTACT
Michelle Cragle
National Museum of Women in the Arts
+1-202-783-7373
mcragle@nmwa.org

 
PHOTO
An artist’s rendering of the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. (PRNewsFoto / National Museum of Women in the Arts)

PRESS RELEASE  NOHRA HAIME GALLERY
 
 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 18 FEBRUARY 2010 — A one-person exhibition of Niki de Saint Phalle including selected sculptures and works on paper will be on view at the Nohra Haime Gallery booth No. 232 at the Armory Show – Modern.

The exhibition will feature two historical works from the 1960s: Old Master, a target picture in plaster, and My Frankenstein, a heart-shaped assemblage of found objects. Dawn, one of her signature Nanas, will be the central focus of the exhibition, along with Double Tête and Trilogie Des Obelisques. Furniture such as the Four Nanas Table, the Owl Chair and Snake Chair will also be on view, along with her multiples California Nana and Couple Vase.

The artist’s playful sense of caprice will be further revealed in the remarkable selection of works on paper, depicting almost naïve imaginary landscapes, creatures and symbolisms.

Saint Phalle’s work is bold and restless. Its clever combination of fantasy, irony and social commentary is a manifestation of the artist’s exuberant life and uncanny imagination. Given a few moments before this arresting exhibition, the viewer will be instantly drawn into Saint Phalle’s realm, one of whimsy and enchantment.

Niki de Saint Phalle, French-born, self-taught sculptor, painter and film maker of international prominence, emerged in the 1960s as a powerful figure in the Parisian art scene. Her work can be seen in major museums and cities around the world. Amidst her large-scale installations are the Stravinsky Fountain near the Centre Pompidou in Paris (1983), the Tarot Garden at Garavicchio in southern Tuscany, and the Grotto in Hannover’s Royal Herrenhausen Garden (2003). In 2002 she was awarded the 12th Praemium Imperial Prize in Japan, considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the art world. Born in 1930, Niki de Saint Phalle spent her life between France and the United States, where she later became a resident. She died in 2002 at the age of 71 in La Jolla, California.

The Nohra Haime Gallery is pleased to announce that it is now representing the estate of Niki de Saint Phalle in New York.

LOCATION
Pier 92 on 55th Street at 12th Avenue, New York City

DATES
VIP Preview: March 3, 2010
General Admission: March 4–7, 2010

HOURS
March 4–6: Noon – 8 pm
March 7: Noon – 7 pm

As of April 15th at the Crown Building:

730 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 888-3550 phone
(212) 888-7869 fax
gallery@nohrahaimegallery.com