Bernar Venet

An ode to minimalist, conceptual creation

One of the world’s most exhibited contemporary artists, known for his monumental sculptures, Bernar Venet was born in 1941 in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region of France. He has revolutionized sculpture.

Bernar Venet

A monument of monumental art

New-Zealand, the United States, Château de Versailles… Bernar Venet‘s monumental sculptures have been blooming in urban spaces throughout the globe since the Eighties. His “Indeterminate Lines” – gigantic steel structures created from simple forms -, have reinvented sculpture and evolved to become his trademark and the signature of his XXL talent, as witnessed by his “Major Arch” sculpture erected at kilometre 99 of the E411 highway between Brussels and Luxembourg. Measuring 60 metres in height and 75 metres in diameter, it is the world’s largest steel sculpture.

bernar-venet-effondrement-200-tonnes-le-muy-schachmes-courtesy-archives-bernar-venet-new-york-1.jpg

Voir cette publication sur Instagram
Une publication partagée par l'art en plus (@l_art_en_plus) le 16 Juil. 2016 à 6 :04 PDT

A local-born child…

…Who conquered America

Bernar Venet was born in 1941 in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence area. Fascinated by black, he created canvasses coated in tar, together with black painted cardboard constructions. Part of the emerging conceptual art movement, in which the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work, he also drew inspiration from the scientific world and in particular maths. But Venet truly forged his artistic identity in the United States. He set up home in New York in 1966, on the advice of fellow visual artist Arman, who he had formerly been an assistant to in Nice. He went on to become friends with Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt, and made a name for himself in the avant-garde minimalist and conceptual art movements.

The friend

And the collector

Over the years, thanks to his close ties with other great artists, Bernar Venet built up an incredible collection of minimalist and conceptual works, mostly by American artists, including creations by Donald Judd and Sol Lewitt, together with Dan Flavin, François Morellet, Arman, César, Frank Stella, Walter de Maria, Richard Serra, Larry Bell and more…

A prolific artist

Where can you discover it in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur?

Bernar Venet has close ties with the Espace de l’Art Concret in Mouans-Sartoux. After taking part in the second concrete art manifesto in 1993, it was at this art centre that he decided to exhibit his personal collection for the first time in 2009. At the EAC, there are a number of works by Venet, including Relief carton (rouge) (1964), made with industrial paint and mounted on wood, and Tube (1966), a 178 cm yellow-painted cylinder placed on the floor. His monumental sculptures have also graced the Commanderie de Peyrassol wine estate in Flassans-sur-Issole. They are also on show at the MAMAC in Nice. His collection includes the Relief-Carton rouge Médoc (1964) and an installation, Tube n°150x45x60x1000 (1966), consisting of a drawing on tracing paper and a Bakelite tube. Bernar Venet has also donated a 30-metre, 54-tonne obelisk to the city, adjacent to the opera house.