Private View: Thursday 11 February, 6-8pm
For his second exhibition at Carroll / Fletcher, digital art pioneer Manfred Mohr presents a series of new pieces mapping his formal investigations of theoretical space in generative screen-based works, drawings, and inkjet paintings.
One of the very first artists ever to produce drawings on a computer, Mohr originally trained as a painter, and has made rigorously minimal paintings and drawings since the late 1950s. Abstract Expressionism informed his early works, but the artist rapidly grew suspicious of the lack of control inherent to most expressionist practices. Inspired by philosopher Max Bense’s thinking that a ‘clear and logical’ form of art making was possible – and indeed desirable – Mohr began to develop what he called a ‘programmed aesthetic’ while based in Paris in the 1960s. He soon introduced algorithms and formal rules to his painting process in order to generate artworks that conveyed his vision in a more rational way. During the same period, he met composer Pierre Barbaud, known for his role in shaping early ‘algorithmic music,’ an encounter that alerted him to the artistic possibilities afforded by then-fledgling computer technologies.
Image Credit: Manfred Mohr, P2200_1932, 2014-15, Pigment ink on paper, 80 x 80 cm
