Niki de Saint Phalle: Dream Machine

Action, sculpture, stage, and film, as well as models of walk-in architectures, make Niki de Saint Phalle's autobiographical worldbuilding, her design of a female-oriented world, and her collaborative working methods visible. From the social explosive power of her art and her simultaneous longing for harmony, an ambivalent oeuvre emerged that made the French-American artist internationally successful during her lifetime and continues to gain relevance today.

The early 1960s offered little room for independence. All the more determinedly, Niki de Saint Phalle, amidst a male-dominated art scene, shaped a world that grew from within her: In dreams, magical creatures, and expansive Nana figures, the artist negotiates very real ideas of social change. Vehemently and radically, freely and uncompromisingly, she paves the way for new role models and finds in them a corrective to the patriarchal structures of her time.

With more than 100 works, the Kunstpalast presents the entire spectrum of Niki de Saint Phalle's work in twelve thematic rooms, encompassing painting, assemblage, performance, sculpture, architecture, film, graphics, design, and art in public spaces. The exhibition also considers her work in relation to her artistic environment: On the one hand, it presents collaborations, including with Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Jean Tinguely, and theater director Rainer von Diez. On the other hand, her works in the tour engage in dialogue with numerous works by her contemporaries such as Eva Aeppli, Dorothy Iannone, Yayoi Kusama, or Alina Szapocznikow, situating her oeuvre within the context of central positions in feminist art history.

Niki de Saint Phalle's works should not just be viewed from afar but experienced, discovered, and shared. Participation and direct encounters with her audience were central components of her artistic practice. The Kunstpalast builds on this attitude with a diverse educational program.

The exhibition was curated by Heike van den Valentyn. It is created in cooperation with the Nationalmuseum in Wrocław, the Heidi Horten Collection in Vienna, and in close collaboration with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation San Diego and the Sprengel Museum Hannover. The show can be seen at the Kunstpalast from September 10, 2026, to February 7, 2027, and will then move to the Nationalmuseum in Wrocław from March 20 to August 29, 2027. As a third stop, the Heidi Horten Collection in Vienna will present DREAM MACHINE from September 24, 2027, to March 5, 2028.

In addition to works by Niki de Saint Phalle, selected works by Eva Aeppli, Evelyne Axell, Dorothy Iannone, Jasper Johns, Luise Kimme, Yves Klein, Yayoi Kusama, Maria Pinińska-Bereś, Robert Rauschenberg, Martial Raysse, Ulrike Rosenbach, Daniel Spoerri, Alina Szapocznikow, Jean Tinguely, Per Olof Ultvedt, and Jacques Villeglé are on display.