LONDON (AFP) — The exuberant work of French artist and sculptress Niki de Saint Phalle went on display at the Liverpool Tate on Friday, bringing colour and verve to the gallery.
The retrospective covers more than half a century of work by de Saint Phalle, whose arresting Gaudi-esque work graces buildings worldwide from the Pompidou Centre in Paris to California, where she died in 2002.
"It gives an overview of her whole career, more than 50 years of work, including her major work and some paintings and sculptures which are rarely seen," said curator Kyla McDonald.
Saint Phalle, who was born in Paris in 1930, emerged as one of the most original figures in the male-dominated art world in the 1960s after making her home in the United States.
At a young age she revolted against her bourgeois family lifestyle, producing consciously naive work inspired in part by Catalan architect and artist Antonio Gaudi.
"Niki started painting after an emotional and nervous crisis," Argentinian Marcelo Zitelli, who was her assistant for 16 years until her death in San Diego, told AFP.
"Her work allowed her to release her aggression and express the violence she felt against her father, a strict Catholic who abused her sexually, as well as against institutionalised religion, war, and politicians," he added.
The Liverpool exhibition -- at the now well-established northern outpost of London's Tate gallery, which is a key venue during Liverpool's year as European capital of culture -- is due to run until May 5.
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