In Search of Vera Molnár

In Search of Vera Molnár (À La Recherche de Vera Molnár) offers a close look at the practice of Vera Molnár, one of the pioneers of computer art, and brings together works by contemporary artists inspired by her work.

In the 1960s, Vera Molnár experimented with simple algorithms, making systematic series of drawings, and later became one of the first artists to produce digital works through her work at the Sorbonne University's computer center. From the 1970s onwards, she made plotter drawings on perforated paper, and together with her partner, she developed the “Molnárt system”, a unique system written in the Fortran programming language that allowed for “1% disorder” in the algorithm. Molnár applied this system to her plotter drawings and later to her series of graphics and paintings. Molnár's Hommage series, inspired by the work of selected masters, includes Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire, variations on the magic squares from Dürer's Melancolia I, and reinterpretations of works by Klee, Monet, Mondrian and Malevich. 

At Josef Broich’s initiative, in collaboration with Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. and the Broich Digital Art Foundation, the exhibition brings together the contemporary works of 16 artists inspired by Vera Molnár. Working in video or augmented reality using algorithms, the artists have created works that pay homage to the practice of Molnár, who died last year at the age of 99, by using her working methods or referencing her visual world. 

Artists:
Vera Molnár
Refik Anadol, Arno Beck, Peter Beyls, Snow Yunxue Fu, Mario Klingemann, Patrick Lichty, Frieder Nake, Casey Reas, Antoine Schmitt, Erwin Steller, Tamiko Thiel and /p, u2p050, Iskra Velitchkova, aurèce vettier, Mark Wilson, Samuel Yan

In collaboration with

Image Credits