Arman. Centre Pompidou. Through 10 January 2011
An extensive retrospective of the French 20th-century art legend Arman (1928-2005) is currently on view at the Paris Centre Pompidou, comprising some 120 works from the museum's holdings and private collections and providing an overview of the artist's work from the 1950s to the late 1990s. Arman, the co-founder and member of the Noveau Réalisme movement, is known as one of the most influential representatives of the French post-war art scene. The history of the 'New Realism' dates back to 1960 when the first exhibition of a new group of artists was held in Milan; alongside Arman, the group listed Yves Klein, Pierre Restany, Jean Tinguely, et al. The artistic style and philosophical principles of Noveau Réalisme was very close to that of the American Pop Art movement. (Tellingly, almost all of its members at some time worked with their American colleagues, holding a number of joint shows that played a significant role in the 20th-century art history.) While according to Arman any art movement ceases to exist a mere twenty minutes after the founding, its members immediately falling out with each other (words he is reported to have said following the official signing of the manifest of Noveau Réalisme on 2 October 1960 at Yves Klein's studio), the actual history of Noveau Réalisme spanned precisely a decade (through 1970). As for Arman himself, he spent the greatest part of his creative life in New York where he passed away five years ago. It was in New York that he started some of his most ambitious projects. Arman is best known for his examples of object art; it is in this context that 'deconstruction' and 'accumulation' are cited as means of artistic expression. It is often said that Arman transformed painter's brushes into paintings; a trademark approach of his is 'dissection' of musical instruments and transforming them into examples of visual art.
In all, the Paris show comprises seven major sections; together, they present an exhaustive overview of the range of subjects dominating Arman's art.
Place Georges Pompidou




