In Search of Vera Molnár

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

In the 1960s, Vera Molnár experimented with simple algorithms, producing a systematic series of drawings. She later became one of the first artists to create digital works through her involvement at the Sorbonne University's computer center. From the 1970s onwards, she made plotter drawings on perforated paper and, with her partner, 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. Her Hommage series, inspired by the work of selected masters, included 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 brought together the contemporary works of 16 artists inspired by Vera Molnár. Working in video or augmented reality using algorithms, the artists created works that paid homage to Molnár’s practice—following her methods or referencing her visual world—after her passing in 2023 at the age of 99.

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