BERNAR VENET

Born in 1941 in Château-Arnoux, France, Bernar Venet is a major figure in contemporary art and a pioneer of conceptual art. For over six decades, he has built a polymorphous body of work rooted in a radical exploration of form, language, and material. Painting, sculpture, drawing, performance, installation, poetry, film, sound—no medium escapes his plastic and intellectual inquiry.

Less known to the general public, his photographic practice nevertheless holds a central place in his artistic journey. As early as the 1960s in Nice, Venet used photography as a tool for fixation and experimentation, notably with Performance dans les détritus (1961), his first documented work. He went on to make photography a medium of conceptual research in its own right, developing series such as Macadam (1963), Photofax, Saturations, and his black mirror portraits.

For Bernar Venet, photography is both form and thought. It is a space for visual and mental experimentation, shaped by scientific, linguistic, and philosophical concerns. It challenges our perception of reality, the notion of equivalence between media, and the role of the artist as a transformer of the visible.

By combining the visible with the barely perceptible, playing with materials, textures, immateriality, or the ephemeral, Venet extends in his images a constant desire to question the boundaries of the photographic medium. This so-called "radical" approach aligns with the great experimental traditions of twentieth-century photography, in dialogue with German Subjective Photography, the American New Bauhaus, and the New Objectivity.

 

SELECTED ARTWORKS

PUBLICATIONS

SOLO SHOWS

2025 “Peinture rationnelle, sculpture incontrôlée”, Musée Picasso, Antibes, France
2025 “Venet à Panéry”, Ceysson & Bénétière x Domaine de Panéry, Pouzilhac, France
2025 “Archetypes”, Perrotin, Shanghai, China
2025
Algorithm and chance, Ceysson et Bénétière, Tokyo, Japan
2024
“Macadam 1963”, Bigaignon, Paris, France
2023 Bernar Venet, Diffeomorphism and Discontinuity, Perrotin (joint exhibition accross all three Paris galleries), Paris, France
2022 Bernar Venet: Gravity, Kasmin, New York, United States of America
2022 Bernar Venet: Hypotheses, Waddington Custot, London, United Kingdom
2022 Bernar Venet, 1961-2021: 60 Years of Performance, Painting and Sculpture, Kunsthalle Berlin, Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, Germany
2021 L'hypothèse de la gravité, Musée du Louvre-Lens, Lens, France
2021 Bernar Venet: Another Language for Painting, He Art Museum, Guangdong province, PRC
2021 Bernar Venet: Reliefs, Galerie der Stadt Tuttlingen, Tuttlingen, Germany
2021 Bernar Venet: Anamorphosis, Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
2021 Les origines: 1961 et 1963, Ceysson & Bénétière, Paris, France
2021 Reliefs, Ceysson & Bénétière, Saint-Etienne, France
2020 Éléments de Mobilier, Galerie Philippe Gravier, Paris, France
2020 Trajectory, Von Bartha, Basel, Switzerland
2020 Bernar Venet: Angles, Gallery 508, Seoul, South Korea
2019 Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden  
2019 Bernar Venet. In Relation: Performance/Sculpture/Painting, de Sarthe Gallery, Hong Kong
2019 Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2019 Indeterminacy, Blain|Southern, Berlin, Germany
2019 Ceysson & Bénétière, Luxembourg
2019 The Straight Line and the Pictorial Memory of the Gesture, Kasmin, New York
2019 Indeterminate Hypothesis, Kasmin, New York
2018 L'Hypothèse du Point, Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
2018 L'Hypothèse de l'Angle, Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
2018 Bernar Venet, Retrospective 2019-1959, macLyon, Lyon, France
2018 Bernar Venet, The Conceptual Years 1966-1976, Musée d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain (MAMAC), Nice, France
2018 Bernar Venet. D’encre et de papier. Estampes originales 1971-2017, Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris, France
2017 Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York , United States of America
2017 l’Orangerie, centre d’art contemporain, Bastogne, Belgium
2017 RAW: Portraits of Artists, French Cultural Center, Boston, United States of America
2017 Looking Forward: 1961-1984, Blain|Southern, London, United Kingdom
2017 Bernar Venet at Cliveden, 10 sculptures at Cliveden National Trust, Taplow, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom (organized in conjunction with Blain|Southern and the National Trust)
2016 Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York , United States of America
2016Galería Cayón, Madrid, Spain
2016 RAW: portraits d’artistes, Galerie rue Visconti, Paris, France
2016 Custot Gallery Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2016 Bernar Venet: Les origines 1961-1966, The Space for Concrete Art, Mouans-Sartoux, France

GROUP SHOWS

2025 “20th Century Narratives - In Conversation”, de Sarthe, Hong Kong
2025
“Size doesn’t matter”, Michael Fuchs Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2025
“Ligne(s) de mire”, exposition hors-les-murs au Bonisson Art Center, Bigaignon, Rognes, France
2025
“Ligne(s) de mire”, off-site exhibition at the Bonisson Art Center, Bigaignon, Rognes, France
2022 Art in Oisterwijk, Oisterwijk, The Netherlands
2022 Esch2022, European Capital of Culture, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
2021 Modern Masters, Gallery 508, Seoul, South Korea
2021 Monumental Sculpture at Château Saint-Maur, Château Saint-Maur, Saint Tropez, France, organized in conjunction with Waddington Custot
2021 Revenir vers le futur, The Space for Concrete Art, Mouans-Sartoux, France
2021 From the Mundane World. Launch Exhibition of He Art Museum, He Art Museum, Shunde, Guangdong, PRC
2020 ASHK x HKAGA Sculpture Exhibition, Hong Kong Asia Society, Hong Kong, PRC
2020 Light After Darkness, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Salzburg, Austria
2019 Fini & Confini, Museo del Paesaggio de Torre di Mosto, Venice, Italy
2019 Negative Space: Trajectories of Sculpture, ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medien), Karlsruhe, Germany
2019 Gigantisme: Art et Industrie, Halle AP2, Dunkirk, France
2019 Le presentiment de mon indiscipline. Dialogue autour de la ligne avec Bernar Venet, Galerie Anne-Sarah Benichou, Paris, France
2019 Hommage à Vicky Rémy, organized by Galerie Ceysson & Bénétière, chez Jean Prouvé, Grimaud, France
2019 Donaugalerie 2019, Galerie der Stadt Tuttlingen, Tuttlingen, Germany
2018 De Calder à Koons, Bijoux d’artistes: La collection idéale de Diane Venet, Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, France
2018 Art & Jewelry, Custot Gallery Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirats
2018 Enchanté, Lieu d’Art et Action Contemporaine de Dunkerque (LAAC), Dunkirk, France
2018 10 Ans à Luxembourg, Galerie Ceysson & Bénétière, Wandhaff, Luxembourg
2018 Wealth. Black is Gold, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
2018 A propos de Nice : 1947 – 1977, in conjunction with “The French May”, Hong Kong, PRC
2018 Sculpture Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of America
2018 Art & Coal - Homage to Jannis Kounellis, MKM Museum Küppersmühle of Modern Art, Duisburg, Germany
2018 Open Outcome – New Works from the Collection, Kunsthalle Weishaupt, Ulm, Germany
2018 Tempus Fugit, Galeria Cayon, Madrid, Spain
2017 Rites of Spring, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York
2017 A propos de Nice : 1947-1977, MAMAC, Nice, France
2017 Black, White…, Custot Gallery Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2017 It is Just a Beginning, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
2017 Twenty Years at 23rd and 10th, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, United States of America
2017 Nicolas Aubagnac | 20 ans, Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris, France
2017 Nice All Over, Galerie Helenbeck, Nice, France
2017 Lettres Ouvertes, de la calligraphie au street art, Institut des cultures d'Islam, Paris, France
2017 Estampes modernes & contemporaines - De Pablo Picasso à Bernar Venet, Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, Paris, France
2016 The World Meets Here, Custot Gallery Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirats
2016 Sculptures, matières, matériaux, textures…, Galerie Bernard Ceysson, Foetz, Luxembourg
2016 Focus on Sculpture in the Würth Collection, Würth Haus Rorschach, Rorschach, Switzerland
2016 Art on Board, Mathematische Fachbibliothek der TU Berlin, Germany
2016 Opening of the New Jakobshallen Exhibition Rooms, Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Germany
2016 Arte alle Corti, Palazzo Cisterna, Turin, Italy

DISTINCTIONS

2022 Artist of the Year Award from AFMI (American Friends of Museums in Israel), New York, United States of America
2019 François Morellet Prize for Poetry
2017 26th Culture Prize from the Montblanc Cultural Foundation
2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center , United States of America
2013 Julio González International Prize from IVAM
2012 A biographical entry on Bernar Venet is included in the Larousse Dictionary
2011 The French Republic's Post Office issues a stamp commemorating the artist’s exhibition at the Palace of Versailles
2006 Robert Jacobsen Sculpture Prize from the Würth Foundation, Germany
2005 On January 1st, the French government awards him the title of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour
2005 The International Organization of La Francophonie creates the Venet Gold Prize
1997 Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, based in Salzburg, Austria
1996 Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters, awarded by the French Minister of Culture
1989 Grand Prix des Arts de la Ville de Paris, awarded by Jacques Chirac, Mayor of Paris
1988 Design Award for his sculpture in Norfolk, United States of America
1979 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship

COLLECTIONS

Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Geneva, Switzerland
MAMAC, Nice, France
MAMAC, Saint Étienne, France
Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Grenoble, France
MAD, Paris, France
MUba, Lyon, France
Museum of Quebec, Québec, Canada
National Museum of Modern Art, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
National Museum of Modern Art of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Museum Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, France
Royal Museums of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg, Germany
Museum of Art, University of Iowa, Iowa City, United States of America
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, United States of America
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, United States of America
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States of America
Museum Sztuky W. Lodzi, Lodz, Poland
Museum / Kunsthalle Würth, Künzelsau, Germany
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, United States of America
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
National Museum of Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
Neue Galerie im Alten Kurhaus, Aachen, Germany
New York Public Library, New York, United States of America
The New York University Art Collection, New York, United States of America
North Fork Bank Collection, Melville, United States of America
Boverie Park, Liège, Belgium
Person's Weekend Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, United States of America
Quadrat Josef Albers Museum, Bottrop, Germany
Sakip Sabanci Müzesi, Istanbul, Turkey
Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, United States of America
Sara Hildén Fundation, Tampere, Finland
Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Olympic Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Shanghai Sculpture Park, Shanghai, PRC
Singapore Management University, Singapore
Smalley Sculpture Garden, University of Judaism, Los Angeles, United States of America
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, United States of America
Sonja Henie - Niels Onstad Foundations, Hovikodden, Norway
Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyongbuk, South Korea
Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary
Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, United States of America
Von der Heydt Museum, Wüppertal, Germany
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, United States of America
Wheelock Properties, Scotts Square, Singapore
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Yale University, New Haven, United States of America
Yuanta Financial Holdings, Taipei, Taiwan