Niki De Saint Phalle: The Garden of Secretsby Patti MartinsonReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 9 Niki de Saint Phalle was a French-American writer, painter, sculptor, and filmmaker, quite famous for her immense outdoor sculpture and prolific life. This a comic adaptation of her life, which is as colorful and varied as her own work.The graphic novel really does cover Niki's life, from birth to her death in 2002. Despite a harsh childhood of sexual abuse by her father and physical abuse by her mother, Niki grows to be an exceptionally passionate and creative woman. The depth and breadth of her art pretty much blew my mind. I was also very much astounded that she had so many supporters and collaborators throughout out her life. Normally, you tend to see an artist as a solitary figure. There are times where Niki does go solo, but so many times she collaborates with many different artists and other individuals who help bring her work to life. Her personal life redefines the phrase "it's complicated". Both of her marriages were very tempestuous, with multiple affairs on both sides, and yet she still kept strong connections with her partners, who were true partners in art, if not in love. The downside of this book is that we basically get just the highlights of her life. There are 22 chapters to this graphic novel, each one just a fragment of what was going on in her life at the time. I really felt this graphic novel could almost be an encyclopedic-size set, illustrating her active, tumultuous, romantic, familial, and artistic life. The art itself seems almost as chaotic and complicated as Niki herself. I think I could spend man more hours parsing the artwork alone. A remarkable graphic novel about an extremely remarkable woman. Written: May 19, 2018
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