Armand Fernandez :: Armand Fernandez Artists Painters Essays

Armand FernandezBorn as Armand Fernandez in 1928 at Nice, the boy of an antique dealer. His first lessons in exposure were given him by his father. He took his Baccalaurat in philosophy and mathematics in 1946 and began to study painting at the cole Nationale dArt Dcoratif, Nice. In 1947 he met Yves Klein and Claude Pascal in Paris and accompanied them on a hitch-hiking tour of Europe. Completing his studies in Nice in 1949, he enrolled as a student at the cole du Louvre, where he concentrated on the study of archaeology and eastern art. His pictures at this time were influenced by Surrealism. In 1951 he became a teacher at the Bushido Kai Judo School. He completed his military service as a medical orderly in the Indo-Chinese War. He did abstract paintings in 1953.He took part in actions with Yves Klein, with whom he had been discussing subjects such as Zen Buddhism and astrology since 1947. He married Eliane Radigue. He was impressed by a Kurt Schwitters array in Paris in 1954 which inspired him to begin his work with stamp imprints, the Cachets. He earned his living during this period through occasional jobs, sell furniture and harpoon fishing. He had his first one-man exhibitions in capital of the United Kingdom and Paris in 1956. In 1957 he travelled in Persia, bomb calorimeter and Afghanistan. In 1958 he dropped the d in his name, inspired by a printers error. He started his monotypes using objects, his Allures. In 1959 he did his first Accumulations and Poubelles. The Accumulations were assemblages of everyday objects and homogeneous consumer articles displayed in boxes. The Poubelles were similar, but used collections of rubbish. In 1960 he became a cosmos member of the Nouveaux Ralistes. Through this group he made see with members of the Zero group. He showed in New York and Milan in 1961 and made his cut and smashed objects (Couples, Colres). In 1962 he showed in various European cities and also in Los Angeles, where he was assisted by Edwar d Kienholz. He started his so-called Combustions, or burned objects, in 1963. He also took up underemployed residence in New York. In 1964 he had his first museum retrospectives at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Polyester now became his most important material. In 1965 and 1966 he was given large retrospective exhibitions in Krefeld, Lausanne, Paris, Venice and Brussels.