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Peinture Gordes

Biography of the French sculptor Arson

French sculptor

''Gornica''
Painting on wood Arson 2017

Portrait in black and white of Arson in his studio

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Descendant of an illustrious Niçoise family, Arson is a transgressive libertarian.

Born in Paris in 1953, he was introduced to the fine arts at the age of 16. Initially interested in painting, he turned to architecture, which he finally abandoned, returning to painting, then worked with clay, learning pottery, modelling, sculpture and casting. He returns to his first love with a personal, assertive and original style.

With Arson, we discover that the woman for him is a fantasized ideal, a fetish taste for Her.  But he invites us to look beyond, towards his unique achievements, which consists of so many stories, so many dreams, that you can draw the poetry of his work, find an original invention, to get out of a world without dreams, too much written in advance, too consensual, which will allow your imagination to wander. 

Tissu noir

He opened his first sculpture workshop in 76, in Gordes, in Provence, then in the south-west of France in Montcuq in the Lot.


Admirer of Duchamp and Magritte, Arson defines himself as the descendant of Dadaism, in what is transgressive and provocative.


Paraphrasing Magritte, Arson, speaking of his ''Esculmau'', used to say, ''This is not an ice cream, nor an ass, it's an ''Esculmau''...

Arson in his workshop alongside an Esculmau
Image de Diogo Nunes
Candy pink Esculmau sculpture

A worthy heir to his predecessors, Arson is also a poet, a bit anarchist, in love with women, their shapes, their femininity, their creativity. The artist invites us, in his extraordinary works, to his measure, excessive and provocative, like his surrealist friends, to reflect on women, but also today's society and the taboos that surround it. always lock up.

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Art brut, decorative art, Arson's sculptures evolve according to the material he models with passion and the very personal look he has on our post-modern world in full upheaval.
“Anarchy is the freedom of men who deserve it,” he says.

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Léo Ferré said “your style is your ass”, Arson seems to agree.

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The shape often allows the bottom to surface. This is especially true in Arson's creations. J.F.G.
Jean-Francois Gaulis

Gornica

''Gornica'' 
was inspired by the sad history of the beautiful village of Gordes in Vaucluse, which has become a shadow of its former self, transformed into a theatre set for tourists in search of "authenticity". Deserted by its inhabitants, themselves abandoned by a mayor more interested in power than the general interest of the community.  Luxurious second homes, each one more luxurious than the other, in abuse of mercenary activities, mass tourism managed "inappropriately", desertification and the death of the village, are well underway.

Modern painting Gornica by Arson
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