Artiste
Artiste

ARMAN


Artist of the “Nouveau Réalisme”

Armand Pierre Fernandez, known as Arman (1928-2005) is a prolific artist. Passionate about violins and musical instruments, he entered the School of Decorative Arts in Nice in 1946, but it was not until 1957 that he began to sign his works with his first name as a tribute to Van Gogh.

He is a co-founder of the New Realists group who advocate the use of recycled materials, like Jacques Villeglé, Christo, César, Niki de Saint Phalle etc..

He is one of the first visual artists to use manufactured objects to create a work of art.

The accumulation of objects

In 1959 appeared his first accumulations of objects, where he defines himself as a “showman of objects”. Most of the time, they are objects melted in Plexiglas. His technique is based on burning, destroying, cutting up and assembling objects from everyday life. It can be violins, chairs, cars etc..

During the same period, he created transparent boxes containing garbage called “Poubelles”, which are in fact a concept of waste, coming from the consumer society.

Artworks