Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 5: Artist-Programmer Era (1970s)

1971

Manfred Mohr’s First Solo Museum Exhibition of Computer-Generated Art

Exhibition · Europe

Manfred Mohr’s First Solo Museum Exhibition of Computer-Generated Art
Spalter Digital. 2023. P-026-A Inversion Logique (Logical Inversion). spalterdigital.com

Mohr’s show, Computer Graphics—Une Esthétique Programmée, was held at the ARC, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, curated by Pierre Gaudibert. According to Margit Rosen, Mohr “made history with the solo exhibition.” Mohr describes the show himself: “I showed 20+ drawings, demonstrated some of the drawings on a large Benson high-resolution flatbed plotter (installed by the company), and hung a large white panel, a sort of guest book, asking what the visitors thought about art and the computer. This banner has become a survey of opinions of the time (on permanent loan at ZKM, Karlsruhe). Though I made hundreds of drawings at that time, the show and catalog emphasised the different algorithms that I wrote and not the multitude of drawings I made from each algorithm.” Image is copyrighted by The Artist and courtesy of The Anne and Michael Spalter Digital Art Collection.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

People

Manfred Mohr, Margit Rosen, Pierre Gaudibert

Movements

computer art, generative art

Filed under

Ideas
Algorithmic Art, generative art
Technologies
algorithms, Benson plotter, computer art, computer graphics, computer-generated drawings, plotter, Plotter Art
People
Manfred Mohr, Margit Rosen, Pierre Gaudibert
Exhibitions
Computer Graphics—Une Esthétique Programmée
Organisations
ARC (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris), Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Spalter Digital, ZKM Karlsruhe
Places
Karlsruhe, Paris

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