If it is not surprising how many mediums Bernar Venet has worked in, from sculpture to painting to photography to sound to furniture, it is surprising how many he has used in performance. From the first moments of "Performance dans les détritus" in 1961 through sound compositions corresponding to and implicating his visual work, to a ballet for which he wrote the music, created the choreography and designed both the set and costumes, Venet has been omnivorous, recording mathematical poems on vinyl, the engines of the Concorde on CD and finally the sounds of the creation of his own sculpture. In 2004, Venet had three simultaneous solo shows in New York City, two at the Robert Miller and Jim Kempner galleries and a third along the Park Avenue Mall, where his large-scale Indeterminate Line pieces were installed. In 2005 he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, France's highest decoration.

French artist Bernar Venet (born 1941) is perhaps best known for his steel sculptures, but he was also an accomplished and prolific painter. This publication highlights 50 years of his paintings, from the earliest tar paintings and cardboard reliefs to later, more mathematical works.

Né en 1941, Bernar Venet est l'un des artistes français les plus connus et les plus exposés dans l'espace public en France et à l'étranger. Il vit entre Paris, le Midi de la France et New York où il expose depuis la fin des années soixante. De ses débuts provocateurs jusqu'à ses dernières réalisations, il est l'auteur d'une œuvre prolifique et protéiforme (sculptures monumentales, performances, tableaux, installations, dessins) constamment sous-tendue par une rigueur et une cohérence interne qui en font une figure majeure de l'art conceptuel et de la sculpture contemporaine. Préfacée par Thomas McEvilley, professeur d'Histoire de l'Art à la School of Visual Arts, New York, cette monographie propose deux lectures : un parcours visuel, conçu par l'artiste et accompagné d'écrits inédits, et un essai rétrospectif de Thierry Lenain, professeur d'Esthétique à l'Université Libre de Bruxelles. Il retrace le parcours atypique de Bernar Venet et analyse la singularité et la complexité de son œuvre.