Bernar Venet

Bernar Venet(born 20 April 1941) is a Frenchconceptual artist.

Bernar Venet
Venet inAntibes,2013
Born	(1941-04-20)20 April 1941 Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban,Alpes-de-Haute-Provence,France
Nationality	French
Notable work	Arcs
Movement	Conceptual art
Awards	Chevalier de La Legion d'Honneur

Early life

Bernar Venet was born to Jean-Marie Venet, a school teacher and chemist, and Adeline Gilly and was the youngest of four boys.He was brought up inChâteau-Arnoux-Saint-Aubanand had a religious upbringing, aspiring to become amissionary.He struggled with asthma and academic subjects at school, while excelling in drawing and painting.With the support of a local artist, he became interested in painting and drawing at a young age.At age 11, discovering a book onPierre-Auguste Renoir,he first considered making a career of art.

After several attempts at gaining a formal education in the arts, he worked as a stage designer at theNice Operain 1959. In 1961, Venet joined theFrench Armywhilst also starting to establish his style as an artist. During this period, he painted withtar,creating his art with his feet in a gestural style. This work eventually developed into black monochromatic paintings which eschewed all forms ofaction painting.

Career

88.5 Arc × 8,2012,Gibbs Farm,Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand

After completing his military service, Venet returned toNice,where he established his studio and continued to explore painting with tar, creating art with coal, and photography. His early sculptureTas de Charbon( "Pile of Coal" ) reflected his obsession with making art that changes the history of art; it was "the first sculpture devoid of a specific shape, where you could alter its size or exhibit it in various locations at the same time, and where the coal wasn’t used to create an artwork, but instead was the artwork itself."

1960s

Subsequently, Venet became familiar with the work ofArmanand some of theNew RealistsinParis,such asCésar Baldaccini,Raymond HainsandJacques Villeglé,and started sculpting with cardboard. He exhibited alongside New Realists andpop artists'works in the Salon Comparisons at the ParisMuseum of Modern Art.

In 1966, during a two-month visit toNew York City,Venet was influenced byminimalism,consequently incorporating this style into his art (cfr.Tubes). In 1967, Venet moved to New York and shared fellow artistArman's studio, at 84 Walker Street (formerlyJean Tinguely's).In the late 1960s, Venet's work was published in0 to 9magazine,an avant-garde journal which experimented with language and meaning-making.

1970s

From 1971 to 1976, Venet did not create any art, entering a period of retrospection. He took up teaching Art and Art Theory at theParis-Sorbonne University,and frequented lectures inEngland,Italy,PolandandBelgium.He resumed his artistic activity in 1976, exhibiting works at "Documenta VI"inKasselin 1977. In 1979, he created a series of wood reliefs, entitling themArcs, Angels, Diagonals.

1980s and 1990s

During the 1980s, Venet continued to develop his art along logical lines. He also composed, choreographed and imagined the costumes and designs forJean-Louis Martinoty’s production of the balletGraduation.In the 1990s, he created hisIndeterminate Linesseries and subsequently hisArcs,which have been exhibited at various locations, includingVersaillesand internationally.

His 1994 pieceFour Indeterminate Linesis exhibited at theSkulpturen Park Köln.

Recent years

Venet’s work has become known internationally, with sculptures exhibited inBelgium,America,Japan,Austria,Switzerland,Germany,Canadaand more recentlyNew Zealand.In 2005, Venet received the title ofChevalier de La Legion d’Honneur,France’s highest honour.

In 2012, Venet was commissioned byAlan Gibbs,an art collector based inNew Zealand.His newest and largest sculpture stands in theGibbs Farmsculpture park.That same year, the luxury car makerBugattiinvited Venet to create a one-off artwork to be applied to aVeyronGrand Sport. The finished work, described as "the fastest artwork ever", was revealed at the Rubell Family Collection inMiamiduringArt Basel Miami Beach.

Venet has also had a major presence in Asia in collaboration withde Sarthe.In 2012, the artist had a major exhibition of public art in Hong Kong in collaboration with the gallery, showing 7 large-scale steel sculptures in the piazzas adjacent to theHong Kong Cultural CentreandHong Kong Museum of Art.In 2019, de Sarthe andSotheby'sco-organized a live performance by Venet to benefitamfAR.

In 2016, Venet was awarded theInternational Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.

Venet was represented byBlain Southernfrom 2016 until the gallery went into administration in early 2020.In November 2020, it was announced that Venet had joined the roster ofWaddington Custotin London.In 2022, in his first exhibition with Waddington Custot,Hypotheses,Venet presented a new collection of his large-scaleAnglesseries, alongside drawings and smaller sculptures.In 2021 he joined König Galerie and exhibited at the Ceysson & Bénétière Gallery in Paris.

Works

• Arc de 124,5°(1987),Tempelhof-Schöneberg,Berlin
• Indeterminate Line(1987), Beverly Hills, California (58-inch high);a later version (2004),Colorado Convention Center,Denver
• Two Indeterminate Lines(1993),Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) campus,Cambridge, Massachusetts

Selected bibliography

• Derieux, Florence,Barry Schwabsky,Clare Lilley,Bernar Venet,Phaidon Press,London, 2020
• Davila, Thierry (ed.),La conversion du regard,Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland, 2013
• Chappell, Daniel, "Big Art on Highway 16", inArt News New Zealand.Autumn 2012, pp. 84–90
• Du Chateau, Carroll; White, David, "Out There – Inside the extraordinary world of one of New Zealand's richest people" inNew Zealand Listener,no. 3749, 17 March 2012
• Altieri, Gilles and Olivier Schefer,Bernar Venet, Peintures 2001-2011Hôtel des Arts, Toulon, France, 2011
• Beate Reifenscheid and Dorothea van der Koelen;Arte in Movimento – Kunst in Bewegung,Dokumente unserer Zeit XXXIV; Chorus-Verlag; Mainz 2011;ISBN978-3-926663-44-3
• Marcadé, Bernard, Brian O'Doherty,Venet – Versailles,Editions du Regard, Paris, France, 2011
• Laks, Déborah,L'hypothèse de la ligne droite,Editions de la Différence, Paris, France, 2010
• Kuspit, Donald,Art: A Matter of Context, Writings 1975–2003: Bernar Venet,Hard Press Editions, 2004
• McEvilley, Thomas,Bernar Venet,Artha Benteli, 2002
• Rose, Barbara,La paradoja de la coherencia / The paradox of coherence,La imprenta & Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM), Valencia, Spain, 2010
• Schefer, Olivier,Bernar Venet: Paintings 1961-2011: A Retrospective,Seoul, South Korea
• Francblin, Catherine,Bernar Venet: toute une vie pour l'art,Editions Gallimard, Paris, France, 2022 (Témoins de l'art)

External links

• Media related toBernar Venetat Wikimedia Commons