Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Bernar Venet creates large-scale site-specific installations, works of avant-garde performance art and other provocative pieces that have earned him a place among France’s most significant Conceptual artists. He is also known for his abstract and figurative drawings, as well as abstract sculptures.
Venet was born in 1941 in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southern France as Bernard Venet. In 1958, he attended EMAP Villa Thiole in Nice and decided to pursue an artistic career. Venet moved to New York City in 1961 and started to garner recognition for his monochromatic tar paintings and coal sculptures. It was during this period that he dropped the “d” from his first name.
In 1971, Venet took a break from making art and spent some time teaching art theory at the University of Paris. He decided to resume his artistic work in 1976 and showed his work the following year at Kassel, Germany’s “documenta 6,” a contemporary art exhibition that has featured the likes of Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Willem de Kooning and others. Around this time, Venet pivoted to working with wood and created a series of reliefs called “Arcs, Angles and Straight Lines.” The National Endowment of the Arts recognized Venet with a grant in 1979.
The grant kicked off two decades of exhibitions throughout Europe, the United States, Asia and South America. To date, Venet has participated in more than 40 public sculpture exhibitions and created monumental installations in cities around the globe, including Berlin, Denver, Auckland, Geneva, Austin, Tokyo, Vancouver and more.
In 2005, the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur awarded him with the highest order of merit in France. He was also awarded the International Sculpture Center Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture in 2016. Venet’s works are held in the collections of leading museums around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Centre Pompidou.
Venet lives and works between New York City and Le Muy.
On 1stDibs, find original Bernar Venet paintings, prints, sculptures and more.
2010s Minimalist Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Etching, Aquatint, Engraving
2010s Conceptual Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Textile
1980s Conceptual Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Paper, Charcoal, Cardboard
1960s Abstract Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Aquatint
21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Fabric, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Abstract Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Paint, Paper, Conté, Charcoal, India Ink, Acrylic, Tempera, Watercolor, ...
21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century American Modern Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Watercolor, Lithograph, Stencil
1980s Abstract Expressionist Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Gold Leaf
2010s Contemporary Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Metal
1980s Abstract Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Oil Pastel, Ink, Mixed Media, Handmade Paper, Aquatint
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Archival Paper, Color, Etching, Intaglio
1980s Abstract Geometric Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Etching, Oil, Printer's Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Printer's Ink, Archival Paper, Intaglio, Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Fabric, Screen
2010s Minimalist Bernar Venet Mixed Media
Etching, Aquatint