ARMAN
(1928 – 2005)
The Destroyer-Creator
“I’ve always loved object graveyards.”
Why is it fascinating?
Arman doesn't paint; he gathers, glues, seals, aligns, and stacks everyday objects, transforming them into powerful and poetic works of art. Watches, musical instruments, toothbrushes, telephones...
His thing is to reveal the beauty of excess. He is a poet of consumer society. He leaves a body of work deeply marked by irony, violence, and the beauty of the object in the modern world. He transfigures reality.
Arman is not only a creator but also a philosopher of objects, a passionate collector, and a man of the world influenced by science, history, and industrial society. His work evolves towards an exploration of time, memory, and accumulation.
A very contemporary work
Arman is the boss of pop recycling with his accumulations!
They are like frozen stories of our habits, mixing art and consumer society, speaking of their excesses with poetry, irony and radicalism.
His monumental works herald modern installations and immersive museums.
He is a visual artist of contemporary memory. He transforms the banal into the sacred. He makes us think about what we throw away, what we keep, what we sanctify.
Why is it presented here?
Because Arman is one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century.
He creates art from chaos; he has blown up pianos, violins, cars and put them on display.
Because he was a friend of Klein, Tinguely, a member of the New Realists movement alongside César and Niki de Saint Phalle, he was one of the first to bring art into the realm of everyday life.
Because he is an internationally recognized artist, famous for his monumental sculptures in public spaces, present in the greatest museums.
Where to see it?
- Pompidou Center, Paris
- MoMA, New York
- Guggenheim, New York
- Tate Modern, London
- Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
- MAMAC, Nice