Art of Play

Interactive footage from "Niki in the Garden" exhibit in Chicago's Garfield Park

In an effort to tailor our vacations more to each family member’s interests, my mom asked us all to look at brochures featuring Chicago attractions. Flipping through the pages of about a dozen pamphlets, the item that caught my attention featured shiny objects and bright colors. I cast my vote and insisted we visit the seasonal outdoor art display, “Niki in the Garden.”

“Niki in the Garden” was a roaming outdoor art display that, in the summer of 2007, was being featured in Chicago’s Garfield Park. In order to arrive at the park, we took the Green Line to Central Park Avenue. I was hesitant about stepping off the train, because what greeted us on the other side of the door was lurking shadows and what could only be described as a sketchy rail stop. However, we continued onward towards the Conservatory, the start of the art display.

After each paying our $5 suggested entry donation, we began to stroll through the conservatory. What was neat about “Niki in the Garden” was that the sculptures were intertwined between plants, ferns, trees, and flowers of botanical significance. Also, as part of the “Art of Play” series, visitors were encouraged to touch and interact with the pieces. Given the shear scale of the sculptures, as well as the subject matter, I found that children and adults alike enjoyed this privilege.

The sculptures I saw that day were, without a doubt, some of the most bizarre art forms I have seen, and this is the opinion of someone who was schooled in odd classical art like Dying Gaul. I mean, picture this: the tallest sculpture was 18 feet tall, and the longest piece stretched 25 feet. The sculptures encompassed gigantic totem poles, iconic sports figures, neon skulls, etc. Oh, and for the kicker, the artist’s topic of choice was voluptuous women with bodacious bodies.

“Nanas,” a French term standing for “babes” or “chicks,” decorated the landscape at every turn. These curvy women were sculpted in angelic poses and always displayed technicolored bosoms with mix-matched patterns and uneven sizing. Upon seeing these “Nanas,” I was convinced that the artist was yet another male sculptor with a seemingly unhealthy fetish. Well, turns out I was wrong in every aspect of that generalization.

The artist was actually French-American painter and sculptor, Niki de Saint Phalle. The artist was a woman. An ex-fashion model, as it turns out. That insight caused me to eat my words about the “Nanas” being the renderings of a chauvinistic, male mind. It turns about that these portrayals of women were actually Niki de Saint Phalle’s way of expressing the archetypical role women in society. Quite the opposite.

My stay at Garfield Park was so enjoyable because it was so different. Something about strolling through a city park on a gorgeous summer day, all while looking at art, just appealed to me. It was casual, it was unique, and it was most definitely entertaining.