ARMAN

Arman Fernández (b. Nice, 1928- d. New York, 2005)

Arman’s work is characteristically entropic and dual, and reinvents itself incessantly through destruction. An alumni of École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs of Nice and the École du Louvre in Paris, Arman explored life through an artistic creation that challenges and responds to established states of affairs. Though born and raised in Nice, he became an American citizen in 1973, and shared both his personal and professional time between the United States and France.

Beginning in his early paintings, such as "Cachets & Empreintes" (1955) and "Allures d’objets" (ca. 1959), Arman’s work embarks to expose the dual symbolism of the object, while engaged in a refusal of abstract painting. As a member of the "École de Nice" and co-founder of the group of the Nouveaux Réalistes (Yves Klein – his good friend with whom he practiced judo in Nice - Rotella, Spoerri, Raysse et. al.), Arman was known for his strong action of both demand and opposition. When Klein’s "Vide" premiered at Iris Clert’s gallery in 1958, Arman responded by showing "Plein de détritus" at the same gallery in 1960.

Soon after emerged "Accumulations and Destructions", the two defining works of Arman’s oeuvre. The "Accumulations" focus either on the combination of objects of the same (genre, semantic field), or on complementary parts of a sole object, such as a mandolin or a commemorative sculpture. They are characterized by vitrification, especially the use of various colored glass tubes, and other miscellaneous (glass) objects found at rummage sales. Later, Arman used both bronze and concrete in his "Accumulations d’extérieur", a work which opened the doors for his monumental sculptures of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pieces such as "Long Term Parking" (Jouy en Josas, 1982) are composed of an accumulation of 59 cars in 1600 tons of concrete.

In response to "Accumulations and Poubelles", Arman created pieces such as "Destructions and Colères", which used mallets to enact the sometimes public dismantlement of various objects, including furniture and musical instruments. In 1975, at the John Gibson Gallery in New York, Arman created "Conscious Vandalism", in which he shattered and destroyed the interior of a middle class home in front of an audience that included the home’s owners.

Arman’s oeuvre, always multifaceted, represents an “accumulation” of contradictions in the service of a universal singularity.

Yves Malrin