More than a hundred works on display to tell the story of the Tarot Garden and relaunch the feminist, environmentalist and avant-garde message of its creator, the artist Niki de Saint Phalle. This is the exhibition “The place of dreams: Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden”, which will be held in Capalbio from July 9th to November 3rd.

Curated by Lucia Pesapane, the exhibition brings together sculptures, drawings, videos and photographs made between the 1960s and the 1990s, some of which have never been seen before. There are two exhibition venues: Palazzo Collacchioni, where the history of the Tarot Garden will be retraced, and Galleria Il Frantoio, where some of the artist’s historical works will be on display, including some preparatory models of the Garden. 

The Tarot Garden, located in Garavicchio, in the municipality of Capalbio, is the result of Niki de Saint Phalle’s passion and art: it is a microcosm, capable of revealing the deepest images of the unconscious. Passing through the perimeter wall, which symbolically separates the real and imaginary worlds, visitors will embark on a journey of initiation, fighting dragons and devils, bumping into queens and prophets and finally meeting the Angel of Temperance.

The artist’s concept is that of a society based on a sense of participation and not on that of confinement and solitude. As an artist, but also as a woman of action, Niki de Saint Phalle had been seeking a society rich in community values since the 1980s. In the 1950s, she defended the civil rights of African-Americans, and in the 1990s, she criticised the Old World for promulgating conservatism. The Tarot Garden, in Capalbio, is the result of all her ideals and the exhibition in Capalbio allows us to retrace her history and understand the reasons behind it.

The exhibition “The Place of Dreams: Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden” has been made possible thanks to the generosity of collectors and the collaboration of the Tarot Garden Foundation, The Niki Charitable Art Foundation and the Capalbio Foundation. This exhibition will be held at the same time as another overseas exhibition at the MoMa in New York, on display until September 2021, also dedicated to the artist.

We are sorry but Palazzo Collacchioni, with the exception of the ground floor, and Galleria il Frantoio are not accessible to people with physical impairment.

Click here for info on public transport: Chiarone mare line to the Tarot Garden and Macchiatonda and Playa della Torba line.