Bernar Venet was born in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (France, 1941) but has lived and worked in New York since 1966. His art explores a wide range of creative media—sculpture, painting, film, theater, photography, music, and design—yet it always responds to Venet’s singular need to raise questions and to engender something that is new to the world of art. According to the artist, “what does not alter the history of art is not art.” This idea, in all likelihood, is what underlies the French artist’s inclination to surround himself with works he considers significant; it may have prompted as well his establishment of the Venet Foundation in Le Muy, which will host an exhibit devoted to James Turrell this coming July.

Venet’s work can be found in the collections of some of the most prestigious museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the National Gallery of Art, Washington; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. To date, thirty of his monumental pieces and public sculptures have been installed in major cities around the world, including Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and Denver. He has exhibited works at documenta 6 and at the 56th Venice Biennale. In the course of his career, Venet has received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix des Arts de la Ville de Paris, the title of Chevalier de La Légion d’Honneur, and the International Sculpture Center’s 2016 Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.