Though her Tarot work is not part of this exhibition, if you happen to be in Bilbao, Spain, and are a fan of Niki de Saint Phalle, creator of the Tarot Garden, you really should try to get down to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao sometime between now and June 11th.
Niki de Saint Phalle is a major retrospective of this incredible artist’s work and includes over 200 pieces and archive documents, some of which have never been published.
In the video below, Álvaro Rodriguez Fominaya, one of the show’s curators, gives us a little sneak peak of what to expect. Take a look.
I’ve posted the full-version of Catherine Cabeen’s dance piece Fire! before, but I came across this new trailer for it and thought I’d post it as well.
Enormous Tarot sculptures created by the fabulous Niki de Saint Phalle fill the garden with magic and colour. It’s incredible. I really want to see it in person.
But until I can, I’ll have to make due with pictures and videos other people have been good enough to post.
And if you haven’t already, take a look at the videos on the garden’s official website. You can watch Niki de Saint Phalle herself talk about her creation.
This incredible artist passed on in 2002, but the fantastical mosaic garden she created is still there, a wonder for Tarot lovers everywhere. Twenty-two gigantic sculptures, all inspired by the archetypes of the Tarot deck. It’s absolutely beautiful.
Some of the sculptures are little buildings you can walk into, like the mirrored Temperance, and the one bedroom Empress flat.
One bosom is a kitchen, the other a bedroom. You can sit on her back and look out to the Mediterranean. Niki de Saint Phalle lived in it while she was building the garden. What a dream!
You can see it here in this video.
And here’s a slideshow of the whole park. I don’t know the people pictured, but they seem like a lovely family.
What a magical place. Thank you Niki de Saint Phalle!