And if Arman’s work, which never landed on his airport roundabout, takes off again 21 years later? A work to which the internationally renowned sculptor from Nice had dedicated himself with passion, but which, despite an exchange with the Nice Côte d’Azur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) and a start of construction in 2014 without anyone really knowing why, premises flopped of the metal and iron processing company François Labbé in Saint-Isidore. Even today, his relatives are amazed and after reading articles in Nice-Matin about the Nice crash during his candidacy for European Capital of Culture, they contacted us to tell us about this adventure that evaporated in Riviera air.
Local Talent
It was Véronique Guerrieri, a passionate art lover, then sole curator of exhibitions, who recalled the facts from her home on the heights of Nice: “In the summer of 2002, a project manager from the Nice Côte d’Azur Chamber of Commerce and Industry contacted me knew I was in the art world, she told me that there already Le Voyageur, Max Cartier’s mineral colossus, is enthroned on the first roundabout that connects the two terminals of the airport, and that she was looking for at the second roundabout, a little further IHK for a famous artist from the region and wanted to work with a local company. I thought of Arman, I knew him.”
The project immediately inspired the artist, who was already weakened by illness. Véronique Guerrieri also works with the F. Labbé company, Chemin de la Ginestière, in the Var plain, in the construction industry, on inclined lifts, mobile glass roofs … but also on great artistic creations.
Soaring resilience
Arman was enthusiastic about the sculpture project. Photo DR
The project is called Going Up. In other words, “going up” in English … action of elevation that should symbolize a monumental work of 8 meters high and 5 tons in stainless steel, made up of 7 silhouettes of airplanes planted more or less vertically in each other intertwined, noses pointing to the sky. A take-off or rather a re-take-off. Get up after a fall. The giant sculpture made sense because it intervened after the September 11, 2001 attacks in Manhattan. Xavier Prieur, Sales Manager of F. Labbé, recalls the sculptor’s enthusiasm: “Arman felt this attack very strongly and wanted to take this sculpture near an airport to heart and honor it. At the beginning I had no official knowledge, but After that, Arman sent me network plans from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.”
A very present creator
The plan takes shape. Or rather, hull. Véronique Guerrieri continues the story: “The work Going Up was presented to Francis Perrugini, then President of the CCI. It fulfilled all the wishes of the consular chamber. For about 8 months the project was carefully studied, all technical constraints were solved by a study company and the defined budget.” A budget initially set at just over 237,000 euros before being increased to 251,000 euros in May 2004. An increase warrants particularly “due to the price of stainless steel”, explains Xavier Prieur. Four models were designed by Arman in the workshops of F. Labbé. “He came to our workshops regularly. He looked, remodeled, started something else, assembled, welded. He was a wonderful man, extremely simple, who really put himself into this company.”
Funding has gone down
Xavier Prieur with the original aluminum model made and welded by Arman. Ch.R.
A project. models. mails. And then ? “When we met Francis Perrugini,” says Véronique Guerrieri, “he seemed very inspired, then he seemed less warm-hearted.”
There is also a loss of altitude on the Labbé side: “Arman felt that his project was getting stuck. So he offered to fund it largely himself, up to 70%, by making small sculptures identical to the original. signed, which we would have made here in our production unit.” These were 48 small-scale pieces, “which, Véronique Guerrieri continues, would have been offered for sale through Arman’s wide network of collectors and in various galleries”. These mini-sculptures were never seen The Light of the World.
On the wings of sadness
According to the former exhibition curator, “A cost estimate and funding had been proposed to the CCI, but the latter never materialized. Arman, who was very ill, went back to New York and I didn’t feel like calling him and asking him what he was up to”.
Xavier Prieur he conjures up “an angry artist who says he is waiting for a return from the CCI”. Arman never came back from New York. On October 23, 2005, at the age of 76, full of optimism and resilience, he reached the sky where he wanted his aircraft profiles to be displayed. “We tried to revisit the story with an investor willing to make Arman’s project in Paris a reality, but it didn’t work.”
At a time when we are talking about Nice and culture, those close to Arman would welcome the prospect of returning. Arman was a great artist. Worldwide known. “Technically, and if the family agrees, Xavier Prieur assures, we could build the sculptor’s monumental work here in our workshop. It would be a nice tribute…”
“That was too complicated,” defended the Chamber of Commerce
Véronique Guerrieri tried to find out “why the IHK did not pursue this project.” In vain: “I never got an answer from him.”
We reached out to Francis Perrugini, Chair of the CCI, when Arman thought of going up. Here is what he confided in us: “Terminal 2 of the airport was inaugurated in December 2002. When it was still under construction we had planned to ask artists to exhibit their work there as the Côte d’Azur is a land of art. For the interior design, we turned to Novarro and Capron, the only ones to whom we paid for the composition.”
no way to buy
And for the outside? “We thought that artists can put up their work and at the same time have the option to remove it because they remain their owners. We therefore consulted curators from several museums in Nice, including Mamac, Matisse… We made it very clear to them that the CCI did not want to buy any works and that this would be at the expense of the artists. The goal was to create a showcase with a provision of works to promote their authors.”
“We didn’t sign anything”
Meanwhile, Arman arrives. A first interview takes place with Francis Perrugini, who continues: “Arman was interested in installing a work. He wanted to give the design away but asked us to hire a company to make the work. I said why not? Arman came back with a metal model he left me. He had Labbé do an estimate, an estimate which we got. If the job was done we would have paid the Labbé company, but we didn’t. We didn’t ask, we didn’t sign anything and we didn’t order anything. It was too complicated. Because when we saw how much the curators of the requested museums were arguing, we said stop! A little later a lady came to pick up Arman’s model. That’s all…”