Yves Klein e Arman. Le Vide et Le Plein is published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati in Lugano. Curated by Bruno Corà and designed by Mario Botta, the show examines the complementary practices of lifelong friends Yves Klein (1928–1962) and Arman (1928–2005). In 1958, Klein held a show at Paris’s Iris Clert Gallery titled Le Vide (The Void), in which he removed all the art from the walls and display cabinets and re-whitewashed the space. Two years later, Arman occupied the same gallery with Le Plein (The Full-Up), in which he stuffed the rooms with enough trash to be seen from outside through the windows. Klein aimed to override the notion of art as synonymous with the material production of works, while Arman made clear the industrial essence of modern humanity. Using these two contrasting exhibitions as a starting point, Le Vide et Le Plein explores the poetics of Klein and Arman, and synthesizes their divergent practices as two compatible tenets of Nouveau réalisme. This richly illustrated publication features essays by Bruno Corà and Tobia Bezzola, an interview with architect Mario Botta, a dedicated section on the exhibition design by Botta, and wide-ranging supplementary exhibition histories and biographies compiled by Aldo Iori.
