Date: April 15th, 2025 to July 23rd, 2025
Venue: Hall 4/5/6, 2F, Guangdong Museum of Art (BAIETAN)
Address: No. 19, Bai'etan S. Rd., Liwan District, Guangzhou
Organizers: Guangdong Museum of Art, Phoenix Art
Co-organizers: Bernar Venet Studio, de Sarthe Gallery
Exhibition Director: Wang Shaoqiang
Curators: Jonas Stampe, Xiao Ge
Introduction
Bernar Venet, born in the 1940s in France, was influenced by postwar movements like Abstract Art, Experimental Art, and Nouveau Réalisme. His work spans painting, sculpture, conceptual art, and the visualization of scientific principles, challenging artistic conventions. Early in his career, he explored materiality through tar paintings and asphalt installations. After moving to New York in the 1970s, he embraced systems theory and structuralism, incorporating industrial drawings, mathematical formulas, and scientific logic. His concept of "univocity" emphasized precision to eliminate subjective interpretation, balancing structure with material expressiveness.
Venet's practice centers on geometric forms, evolving from paintings to three-dimensional sculptures that explore the tension between order and chance. Inspired by Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens, his work captures movement and energy.
This exhibition, co-organized by the Guangdong Museum of Art and Phoenix Art, features over 90 works, offering a retrospective of his career. By fostering dialogue between Chinese and international contemporary art, Venet's work invites viewers to reconsider order, logic, and creativity in an uncertain world.
About Artist
Bernar Venet
Born in France in 1941, Venet is a contemporary conceptual artist and a prominent figure in global public art. He has participated in major international art events such as the São Paulo Biennale, Documenta in Kassel, and the Venice Biennale, and has held large-scale retrospectives at institutions including the Cultural Center of New York and the Busan Museum of Modern Art in South Korea. His works are collected by over 70 renowned institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Venet has also been commissioned to create monumental sculptures in cities across the globe. Notably, in 2019, he created Arc Majeur, a nearly 60-meter-high sculpture along the highway between Belgium and Luxembourg, making it one of the largest public art installations in Europe.
Photo & video: Guangdong Museum of Art
Editor: Liu Lingzhi, James, Shen He
