The Menil Collection The Menil Collection

Join the Menil for an intimate reading with renowned and award-winning poet and performance artist Ariana Reines. Reines will read her recent work, Inside the Empress (2021), a response to the work and life of Niki de Saint Phalle, along with a selection from her poetry collections, including A Sand Book (2019).

Inside the Empress was written on the occasion of the Menil’s exhibition, Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s, and is included in the exhibition catalogue. Copies of this publication are available to purchase at the Menil Bookstore. For hours and more information on how to place an order, click here or call 713-535-3180.

This program is presented in collaboration with the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program.

Ariana Reines is the author of A Sand Book, winner of the 2020 Kingsley Tufts Prize, the Obie-winning play TELEPHONE, and other award-winning books and performance projects. Described by KCRW’s Michael Silverblatt as a “crucial voice of her generation,” she has created performances for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Stuart Shave Modern Art, Le Mouvement Biel/Bienne, the Whitney Museum, and more. Her translations include TIQQUN’s Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl and Baudelaire’s My Heart Laid Bare. Her work has been translated into Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, French, Turkish, Greek, and Quiché. She is the founding director of Invisible College and writes frequently for Artforum.

This program is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and available on a first-come first-served basis. Face coverings are required inside museum buildings. Learn more about the Menil’s COVID-19 safety protocols here. Further information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.

Plan ahead and visit the Menil’s exhibition Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s before the program by reserving your free timed entry here.

For any questions please contact programs@menil.org.