Jonathan Baldock discusses Niki de Saint Phalle DRAF Broadcasts: Podcast

"The feeling that I got when I was [experiencing] Niki de Saint Phalle’s [work is of] stepping into this world, this universe that the artist has created. [...] Stepping out of the world in which we live in at this moment and somehow entering into this other reality [...] gives us the potential to imagine alternative ways of living and I think that is actually quite important, more so now than ever.” – Jonathan Baldock

Jonathan Baldock was invited to participate in the 'DRAF Broadcasts: Podcast' series in which artists from the David Roberts Collection choose a work for discussion. For this edition, Jonathan Baldock selected the sculpture 'Nana Danseuse', c. 1972 by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, an artist he has long loved and admired. 

Baldock is interested in de Saint Phalle's celebratory approach to the female figure but also the political, feminist and traumatic elements that are present in her work. Baldock discusses the formal crossovers between his and de Saint Phalle's practices, which are both rich with references. The theme sparked a conversation about collecting not just artworks but object more broadly, with Baldock confessing that as a child he collected all “the mundane things”: clay pipes, stamps, coins, and even sightings of birds.

'DRAF Broadcasts: Podcast' can be found wherever you listen to your podcasts or via davidrobertsartfoundation.com/broadcasts.