I nuovi dipinti di Bernar Venet, che sono il frutto di un processo generativo, riattivano una forma familiare nell’opera complessiva dell’artista francese: gli Angli, che compaiono dal 1976 nelle sue tele, nei rilievi lignei e nelle sculture in acciaio. «Sottoporre queste forme all’esperienza digitale costituisce un nuovo passo nel mio continuo tentativo di mettere in discussione ogni cosa», egli illustra al riguardo. Collaborando con i programmatori informatici, Venet esplora il potenziale degli algoritmi al fine di attualizzarli, realizzando infine immagini, sì imprevedibili, tuttavia rigorosamente costruite. Questo uso del codice estende una logica consolidata nella sua pratica: già negli anni Sessanta concettualizzò il principio di equivalenza, cioè la trasmissione del medesimo contenuto ricorrendo a media diversi. Pittura, scultura, performance, suono e testo hanno tutti quindi contribuito allo stesso slancio e, oggi, l’impiego di strumenti digitali non fa che perpetuare questa sua coerenza, ancorandola alla contemporaneità e alle sue tecnologie.
ALGORITHM AND CHANCE
Ceysson & Bénétière Tokyo presents, from 10 September to 1 November 2025, its second exhibition in its new space with a previously unseen selection of recent works by Bernar Venet. Titled Algorithm and Chance, the exhibition marks a new stage in the ongoing research of an artist who, for over sixty years, has been challenging the very foundations of art. Bernar Venet’s new paintings, stemming from a generative process, reactivate a familiar form in the artist’s work: the Angles, which have appeared since 1976 in his canvases, wooden reliefs, and steel sculptures. «Subjecting these forms to the digital experience represents a new step in my ongoing effort to question everything», he explains. By collaborating with programmers, Venet explores the potential of algorithms to produce images that are unpredictable yet rigorously constructed. This use of code extends a long-standing logic in his practice.
DIGITAL TOOLS
As early as the 1960s, Venet developed the principle of equivalence: conveying the same content through different media. Painting, sculpture, performance, sound, and text all contributed to the same momentum. The use of digital tools today simply continues this coherence, anchoring it in contemporary technologies. «Generative art represents a new field of experimentation for me», Venet states. In it, he finds a sense of freedom, randomness, and entropy, a concept borrowed from physics that measures the disorder of a system, which he transforms here into a creative force. Already central in his Piles of Coal, Accidents, and his piece exhibited at MoMA in 1970 during the Information show, this idea allows the artwork to become unstable, evolving, and always open-ended. By rejecting style as a form of personal branding, Venet has always emphasized the importance of context and content over form. This recent series continues that foundational gesture, opening the work to a generative, evolving, and resolutely contemporary dynamic.
BERNAR VENET
Bernar Venet was born in 1941 in Château-Arnoux, France. He lives and works between Le Muy and Paris, France. His work, exhibited in major institutions such as MoMA, the Centre Pompidou, and the Guggenheim, has made a significant impact on the history of conceptual and minimal art. He is also widely recognized for his monumental sculptures installed in public spaces around the world.
INFO
Bernar Venet: Algorithme and Chance
10 September – 1 November 2025
Ceysson & Bénétière
Cura Ginza, 8th floor
Ginza, Tokyo (Japan)
