Bernar Venet
(French, b.1941)
Solo Exhibitions
2010
Hermann Park, Houston, Texas, in collaboration with Robert McClain Gallery
Galerie Pièce Unique, Paris, France
IVAM, Valencia, Spain, curated by Barbara Rose
Bernar Venet: Homage to Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Le monde de Bernar Venet, Venet in context, Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, France (Nov 2010)
2009
Schinkel Pavillon, in collaboration with Galerie Haas & Fuchs, Berlin, Germany
Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR), Brussels, Belgium
Arsenale Novissimo, 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Galerie Guy Pieters, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
2008
Bernar Venet: Sotheby’s at Isleworth, Isleworth Country Club, Orlando, Florida
Eaton Fine Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
Galerie von Bartha, S-Chanf, Switzerland
Forsblom Galerie, Helsinki, Finland
Bernar Venet in San Diego, California
Scott White Contemporary Art, San Diego, California
Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
2007
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
Artcurial, Paris, France
Bernar Venet: Sculptures in Bordeaux, France
Bernar Venet: Sculptures in Metz, France
L’Arsenal, Metz, France
Centre européen d’actions artistiques contemporaines, Strasbourg, France
Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany
Fischerplatz Galerie, Ulm, Germany
2006
Gary Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Museum / Kunsthalle Würth, Künzelsau, Germany
Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Sculptures in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri
William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
2005
Sculptures in the city of Cergy-Pontoise, France
Centre d’Art contemporain intercommunal d’Istres, France
Musée de l’Arles et de la Provence antiques, Autoportraits, Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France
Sculptures in the City of Knokke-Heist, Belgium
Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sculptures in downtown Chicago, Illinois
Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Evo Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Eaton Fine Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
2004
Sculptures in the city of Liège, Belgium
Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont, Paris, France
Galerie Haas & Fuchs, Berlin, Germany
Fischerplatz Galerie, Ulm, Germany
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
Sculptures on Park Avenue, New York
Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, France
Evo Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sculptures in downtown Denver, Colorado
2003
Autoportrait, Musée d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain (MAMAC), Nice, France
Sculpture, Promenade des Anglais / MAMAC, Nice, France
Equation/Saturation, Galerie des Ponchettes / MAMAC, Nice, France
Stein Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida
Schloss Herberstein, St. Johann, Austria
Centre d’art Patrick des Gachons, Fraïssé-des-Corbières, France
1961-1963, Hôtel des Arts, Toulon, France
Poésie-Performance, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France
City of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Galerie La Cité, Luxembourg
Bernar Venet aux Tuileries, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France
Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Allemagne
Englische Kirche, Bad Homburg, Allemagne
Chac Mool Gallery, West Hollywood, California
Eaton Fine Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida
Kennedy Park, Miami, Florida
2002
Galerie Academia, Salzburg, Austria
Galerie Art of this Century, Paris, France
Poetry- Performance, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France
Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
The Fields at Art OMI International Sculpture Park, Ghent, New York
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Anthony Grant, Inc., New York
Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
2001
Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont, Paris, France
Dorothy Blau Gallery, Bay Harbor Island, Florida
Furniture, Galerie Rabouan Moussion, Paris, France
Galerie Haas & Fuchs, Berlin, Germany
Galerie Hans Mayer, Berlin, Germany
2000
Eaton Fine Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janiero, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Centre d’Art Contemporain Georges Pompidou, Cajarc, France
Salle des Ecritures, Figeac, France
Teatro Nacional de BrasÃlia, Brazil
Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Geneva (MAMCO), Switzerland
Galerie Kaj Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, São Paulo, Brazil
1999
Centro Cultural de Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Improvisé – Inchevé – Non-Formulé, Mücsarnok, Budapest, Hungary
Kunst im Bethmannhof, Galerie Scheffel, Frankfurt, Germany
Art Affairs, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMCO), Geneva, Switzerland
Konstructiv Tendens, Stockholm, Sweden
1998
Musée d’Art Moderne de St. Étienne, St. Étienne, France
Venet in Schutzenmattpark, Basel, Switzerland
Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia, Italy
Galleria Karsten Greve, Milan, Italy
Galleria Persano, Torino, Italy
Centre Culturel Français, Torino, Italy
Chac-mool Contemporary Fine Art, West Hollywood, California
1997
Musée de Peinture et de Sculpture, Grenoble, France
Le Nouveau Musée / Institut de Villeurbanne, Lyon, France
Galerie Karsten Greve, Milan, Italy
Musée du Québec, Québec, Canada
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
Venet in Geneva, Golf Club du Domaine Imperial, Gland, Switzerland
Art & Public- Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland
Lipworth/Hartman International Fine Art, Boca Raton, Florida
1996
Lipworth/Hartman International Fine Art, Boca Raton, Florida
Venet on Avenue Franklyn Roosevelt, Brussels, Belgium
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Fortant de France, Sète, France
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Venet on the Rheingarten, Cologne, Germany
1995
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Alisan Fine Arts, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Shanghai Museum of Art, Shanghai, China
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris FIAC, France
Trajectoires divergentes, La Lune en Parachute, Epinal, France
1994
Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
Galeria Tovar & Tovar, Bogotá, Colombia
Venet on the Champ de Mars, Paris, France
Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida
1993
Galerie Jacqueline Moussion, Mobilier Sculptural, Paris, France
Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice, France
Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
André Emmerich Gallery, New York
Atelier 340, Brussels, Belgium
1992
Studio Oggetto, Milan, Italy
Gallery 360°, Tokyo, Japan
Person’s Weekend Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1991
Fred Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Galerie Bjorn Ressle, Stockholm, Sweden
Galerie Eric Van de Weghe, Brussels, Belgium
Brent Sikkema Fine Arts, Black, Black and Black, (photography) , New York
Galeria Oscar Ascanio, Caracas, Venezuela
Vrej Baghoomian Gallery, New York
Galeria Theo, Barcelona, Spain
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
1990
Galerie Daniel Templon, La ligne à vif (performance) , Paris, France
Vrej Baghoomian Gallery, New York
Castelli Gallery, New York
Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland
Theospacio, Madrid, Spain
1989
Galerie Van de Velde, Anvers, Belgium
Galerie Elisabeth Franck, Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium
Galerie Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Ronald Greenberg Gallery, Saint-Louis, Missouri
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Centre d’art contemporain, Noir/Noir 1963, (photography), Troyes, France
1988
Graduation (contemporary ballet), Opéra de Paris, Salle Favart, Paris, France
Galerie Daniel Templon, Chicago International Art Exhibition, Chicago, Illinois
Daniel Templon, Galerie Une, Paris, France
Daniel Templon, Galerie Deux, Paris, France
Galerie Michèle Chomette, Noir-Noir, Photos 1963, Paris, France
Cantor/Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan
Galleria Primo Piano, Rome, Italy
1987
Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland
Quadrat Museum – Moderna Gallery, Bottrop, Germany
Wenger Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Castelli Uptown, New York
1986
Castelli Uptown, New York
Galerie Elisabeth Franck, Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium
Daniel Templon, Galerie Une, Paris, France
Daniel Templon, Galerie Deux, Paris, France
1985
Galerie Denise René – Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Musée Départemental des Vosges, Épinal, France
Galerie Littmann, Basel, Switzerland
1984
Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, France
Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy
Show with Dan Graham, Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Centre d’art contemporain de Châteauroux, Châteauroux, France
Galerie Denise René – Hans Mayer, Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
ARCA, Marseille, France
Musée d’Art Moderne, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
1982
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
The Bonlow Gallery, New York
Malinda Wyatt Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1981
Galerie Denise René – Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf, Germany
1979
ARCO Center for Visual Arts, Los Angeles, California
Hal Bromm Gallery, New York
Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
1978
Special Project at PS1, Long Island City, New York
Galerie Denise René – Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf, Germany
1977
Bruno Bischofberger Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland
Musée d’Art et d’industie, Saint-Étienne, France
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Galerie Nancy Gillespie – Elizabeth de Laage, Paris, France
Sonja Hennie – Niels Onstad Foundation, Hovikodden, Norway
Galerie Denise René – Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf, Germany
1976
Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California
1975
Galerie Hetzler + Keller, Stuttgart, Germany
Galleria Nuovi Strumenti Arte Contemporanea, Brescia, Italy
XIIIth Biennale, São Paulo, Brazil
Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, Great Britain
1974
Galleria la Seconda Scala, Rome, Italy
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Galerie Daniel Templon, Milan, Italy
1973
Foksal psp Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
1972
Bruno Bischofberger Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Galerie Daniel Templon, Milan, Italy
1971
Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany
X-One Gallery, Anvers, Belgium
Loeb Student Center, New York Univeristy, Peter Caws PhD. Lecture on: Structure as a necessary and sufficient condition of Intelligibility (performance), New York
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Galerie Daniel Templon, Milan, Italy
New York Cultural Center (Retrospective), New York
1970
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York
Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, Germany
Kunsthaus, Hamburg, Germany
Studio Santandrea, Milan, Italy
Denise René – Hans Mayer Editions, Düsseldorf, Germany
1969
Newark College of Engineering, Newark, New Jersey
1968
Judson Church Theater, Relativity’s Track (performance), New York
1966
Galerie Jacques Matarasso, Nice, France
1964
Galerie Ursula Girardon, Paris, France
Biography
1941
Born on April 20 in Château-Arnoux, France.
1958
Studies for one year at the Villa Thiole, the municipal art school of the city of Nice.
1959
Employed as a stage designer for the Nice City Opera.
1964
Participates in the Salon comparaisonsat the Museum of Modern Art, Paris.
1966
Creates a ballet, Graduation,to be danced on a vertical plane. Starts making new work based on the use of mathematical diagrams.
1971
Bernar Venet decides, for theoretical reasons, to cease his artistic activities.
1974
Teaches “Art and Art Theory” at the Sorbonne, Paris. A representative for France at the XIIIth São Paulo Biennale, Brazil.
1976
Starts creating artistic work again.
1977
Exhibits at Documenta VI, Kassel, Germany.
1978
Participates in the exhibition “From Nature to Art. From Art to Nature” at the Venice Biennale, Italy.
1979
Awarded a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, Washington, DC.
1984
Starts creating his sculptures at Atelier Marioni, a foundry in the Vosges region of France.
1988
Jean-Louis Martinoty asks Bernar Venet to stage his ballet Graduation(conceived in 1966) at the Paris Opéra. The artist is the author of the music, choreography, set designs and costumes.
Received the 1988 Design Awardfor his sculpture in front of the World Trade Center in Norfolk, Virginia.
1989
Awarded the Grand Prix des Arts de la Ville de Paris.
1991
Creates several musical compositions including Sound and Resonanceat the Studio Miraval, Var, France. Release of two compact discs on the Circé-Paris label, Gravier/Goudron, 1963, and Acier roulé E 24-2, 1990.
1993
Invited to participate in the artists’ film festival in Montreal, Canada for his film Rolled Steel XC-10.
1994
Mr. Jacques Chirac, then the Mayor of Paris, invites Venet to present twelve sculptures from his Indeterminate Lineseries on the Champ de Mars. This exhibition kicks off a world tour of Venet’s sculptures.
1996
Awarded the honor of “Commandeur dans l’ordre des Arts et Lettres” by the Minister of Culture in France. Presentation of the film Lines, directed by Thierry Spitzer, which covers the artist’s complete œuvre.
1997
Moves to a studio in Chelsea, New York City. Begins a news series of sculpture entitled Arcs x 4 and Arcs x 5. Becomes a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, based in Salzburg, Austria.
1998
Travels to China. Invited by the Mayor of Shanghai to participate in the Shanghai International Sculpture Symposium.
1999
Installation of a public sculpture in the city of Cologne, Germany in honor of the G-8 Summit.
Releases the third version of the film Tarmacadam(from 1963) with Arkadin Productions.
Exhibits at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain in Geneva.
Publishes a compilation of his poetry, Apoétiques 1967-1998.
2000
Exhibits a new series of wall paintings, Major Equations, at central art museums in Rio de Janeiro and Saõ Paulo, Brazil; Cajarc, France and at MAMCO in Geneva.
A year of important publications: Bernar Venet 1961-1970, a monograph about the young artist by Robert Morgan; Sursaturation, an original work about reflections on the possibilities of literature; Bernar Venet: Sculptures & Reliefs, written by Arnauld Pierre; La Conversion du regard, with texts and interviews from 1975-2000; Global Diagonals.
2001
Éditions Assouline publishes Furniture, with a text by Claude Lorent in conjunction with exhibitions at the Galerie Rabouan Moussion and at SM’ART (Salon du mobilier et de l’objet design), both in Paris.
Poetry reading at White Box in New York with Robert Morgan.
Inauguration of the Chapelle Saint-Jean in Château-Arnoux. The stained glass windows and all the furniture are designed by Bernar Venet.
Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont in Paris exhibits new series of Equationpaintings.
2002
A performance-evening incorporating the artist’s poetry, film and music at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.
Exhibits Indeterminate Linesculptures at the Galerie Academia in Salzburg, Austria, and at Robert Miller Gallery in New York.
Monograph by Thomas McEvilley on the artist’s complete body of work published in French and German, and a year later in English.
Exhibits Equationand new Saturationpaintings at Anthony Grant, Inc., New York.
Traveling sculpture show arrives in the United States. The Fields at Art Omi International Sculpture Park in New York State inaugurates a program of personal exhibitions presenting twelve of the artist’s sculptures, covering all variations on the theme of the line. The show moves to the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida in November.
2003
Seventeen solo exhibitions this year, including a retrospective of his early work from 1961-1963 at the Hotel des Arts, Toulon, France, and Autoportraitat the Musée d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain (MAMAC) in Nice, France.
Exhibits Saturationpaintings in France, California and at the Art Basel Miami Beach Fair.
L’Yeuse, Paris publishes first book on Equationpaintings, written by Donald Kuspit.
Traveling sculpture show makes its way through Europe: in Nice, France; the city of Luxembourg; Bad Homburg, Germany;Schloss Herberstein, Austria; and in the Jardin des Tuileries, Paris.
2004
Three simultaneous solo exhibitions at locations in New York City, notably the Robert Miller Gallery as well as three large-scale sculptures on the Park Avenue Malls.
Publication of Art: A Matter of Context,a book of the artist’s writings and interviews spanning 1975-2003.
Traveling sculpture show makes its way to: the city of Liège, Belgium; Miami, Florida; and Denver, Colorado.
A year of important commissions for: Bosch Collection in Stuttgart, Germany; AGF, Paris, France; and the Colorado Convention Center, in Denver.
Retrospective of the artist’s Arcsexhibited at the Musée Sainte-Croix of Poitiers, France. Related survey, L’hypothèse de l’arc,is published a year later.
2005
On January 1, the artist is named “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur”, France’s highest decoration.
His sculptures continue to tour Europe and North America, with exhibitions in Boulogne-Billancourt and Cergy-Pontoise in France; at the Galerie Guy Pieters Knokke-le Zoute, Belgium; the Evo Gallery in New Mexico; and the Carrie Secrist in Chicago, Illinois.
2006
Receives the Robert Jacobsen prize for sculpture from the Würth Stiftung in Germany. Chosen by the jury at the Ministry of Culture in Paris to paint the ceiling of the Palais Cambon of the Cour des Comptes in Paris, in celebration of the establishment’s bicentennial in 2007.
2007
Inauguration of Saturationon the ceiling of the Cour des Comptes in Paris by President Jacques Chirac. Three retrospective exhibitions: at the National Museum of Contemporary Art near Seoul, South Korea; the Busan Museum of Modern Art in Busan, South Korea; and the Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst in Duisburg, Germany. Traveling sculpture show moves to the French cities of Bordeaux and Metz. June sees the inauguration of 25 meter Arcs commissioned for the Toulouse Métro.
2008
Sotheby’s for the first time invites a single artist – Bernar Venet – to present his work on the grounds of the Isleworth Country Club. From January through April 2008, approximately twenty-five monumental sculptures showcase the artist’s work of the last two decades, highlighting some of his most distinctive themes. In the fall, the city of San Diego hosts a dozen of the artist’s sculptures in California.
2009
L’Espace de l’Art Concret in Mouans-Sartoux stages the first public exhibition of artwork from the Venet Family Collection. The Arsenale Novissimo grants him 1,200 m2 of space in the 53rd Venice Biennale to exhibit four new monumental sculptures. A survey of paintings and sculptures is mounted at the Kunsthalle Darmstadt in Germany, then moves to the Palais des Beaux Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, supplemented by an exhibition of new “Shaped Canvases” at the Galerie Guy Pieters in Knokke-Heist, Belgium.
2010
Valencia’s IVAM mounts a retrospective of Venet’s conceptual work as well as a full survey of his paintings under the curatorship of Barbara Rose. The Texan-French Alliance of the Arts and McClain Gallery lead the charge of bringing Public Art to Houston, in the form of 10 large-scale sculptures by Venet installed in Hermann Park. The Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur organizes for a group of sculptures in Salzburg, Austria. President Nicolas Sarkozy inaugurates a monumental sculpture on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice in honor of the 150th anniversary of the city’s reunification with France. Two commissions in Seoul, Korea for Dongkuk Steel Mill and Hannam The Hill.
2011
Painting retrospective mounted at the Seoul Museum of Art, South Korea. Major solo exhibition taking place at the Château de Versailles, and one at the Château de Marly in France. Will be featured twice in the city of Valenciennes, France: for their biennale as well as in and exhibition at the Musée des beaux-arts.
Traveling sculpture show will move to Frankfurt, Germany and the Poppy & Pierre Salinger Foundation in France.