Film Screenings / Programs / Retrospectives
NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE ON SCREEN [ONLINE ONLY]
August 25 – September 7
Online program, available from August 25-September 7, for a streaming rental fee of $5. To access the program, click here.
Though Niki de Saint Phalle has continued to be celebrated throughout the years since her death in 2002 – her works are part of numerous major collections and her iconic sculptures grace museums, plazas, and other public spaces around the world – this year has brought a renewed focus on her career. This is thanks in particular to the exhibition currently taking place at MoMA PS1 (“Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life”), as well as a show opening September 10 at the Menil Collection in Houston (“Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s”). As evidenced by both exhibitions, Saint Phalle was among the most prolific and multi-disciplinary of artists. While her “Nanas” – stylized, riotously colorful, joyous sculptures of the female form – are iconic, she produced extraordinary works in practically every imaginable medium: sculptures, installations, assemblages, architectural constructions and landscapes, works on paper, performances, artist books, and more.
Perhaps the least-recognized aspect of her career is her intersection with the moving image. Saint Phalle was a filmmaker herself, an aspect Anthology helped call attention to in 2019 when, as part of the series “Out of the Shadows”, we screened both her unflinchingly personal exploration of familial trauma, DADDY (1973) (a collaboration with filmmaker Peter Whitehead), and UN RÊVE PLUS LONG QUE LA NUIT (1976), a phantasmagoric feminist fairy tale that was one of the bona fide revelations of our recent programming. Saint Phalle also worked in video (her unfinished experimental video piece THE TRAVELLING COMPANION is highlighted at PS1), as well as collaborating on various moving-image projects and performance documentation, and appearing as the subject of numerous documentary portraits.
On the occasion of the MoMA PS1 exhibition, which focuses in particular on the architectural and public oriented aspects of her career, Anthology presents an online program showcasing a selection of short films made with or about Niki de Saint Phalle, including her Warhol SCREEN TEST, and two filmic portraits by François de Menil. The program culminates with a long-buried treasure: a made-for-German-television version of ICH, a theatrical production created by Rainer von Hessen (aka Rainer von Diez) and Saint Phalle, who co-wrote the play and designed the characteristically inspired costumes and sets. A neglected but major work, ICH has been newly subtitled for the occasion.
This program represents a sneak preview of a more comprehensive theatrical series to come, which will showcase a wider selection of films by, with, and about Niki de Saint Phalle, as well as her longtime partner and collaborator, Jean Tinguely. Stay tuned for more details!
TO ACCESS THE PROGRAM, CLICK HERE.
The program has been organized in collaboration with Arielle de Saint Phalle and the Niki Charitable Art Foundation, and is presented with support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy; special thanks to Arielle de Saint Phalle, Bloum Cardenas & Jana Shenefield (Niki Charitable Art Foundation), and Valérie Mouroux & Sandrine Neveux (Cultural Services of the French Embassy). Thanks also to Francois de Menil; Lilly Carrel, Donna McClendon & Michelle White (The Menil Collection); Ted Fendt; Ruba Katrib (MoMA PS1); Marie-Louise Khondji & Courtney Muller (Le Cinema Club); Greg Pierce (The Andy Warhol Museum); Fabienne Stephan (Salon 94); Corinna Stürz (Hessischer Rundfunk); and Josefine Ziebell.
MoMA PS1’s exhibition “Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life” is on view through September 6; for more info, click here.
The Menil Collection exhibition “Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s” takes place in Houston, TX, from September 10, 2021-January 23, 2022; for more info, click here.
In addition to Anthology’s program, Le Cinema Club will be showcasing Saint Phalle’s THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. To watch for free, from September 3-9, click here!
Andy Warhol
NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE [SCREEN TEST 292]
1964, 4.5 min, 16mm-to-digital, silent. Collection of The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
François de Menil
HON
1966, 8 min, 16mm-to-digital. Courtesy of Menil Archives, The Menil Collection, Houston. © François de Menil.
François de Menil & Monique Alexandre
NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE
1982, 15 min, 16mm-to-digital. Courtesy of Menil Archives, The Menil Collection, Houston. © François de Menil.
Rainer von Diez
ICH
1968, 45 min, video. © Hessischer Rundfunk (www.hr.de)
Rainer von Hessen and Niki de Saint Phalle met after he saw a photo of HON, the 1966 installation for Moderna Museet Stockholm, in a German magazine. Their collaboration began when Saint Phalle first designed the costumes and sets to Aristhophanes’s LYSISTRATA, directed by Hessen (then known under the stage name Diez). Thereafter, Hessen co-authored and directed her play ICH, which was performed at the Staatstheater Kassel in 1968.
Total running time: ca. 75 min.
