Victor Vasarely’s Yellow Manifesto Lays Generative Art’s Conceptual Foundation

Victor Vasarely’s seminal Yellow Manifesto envisioned a synthesis between art and technology to enhance art’s accessibility through mass production. His manifesto links the Constructivist research of the Bauhaus to Op Art, Kinetic Art, New Tendencies and contemporary generative art. Vasarely believed that technology could spearhead the accessibility of art by rejecting the concept of a single work. Instead, Vasarely proposed making art more reproducible. This move played an important role in the gradual dematerialization of art, a critical step in the development of electronic, performance and conceptual art. The concept of mass produced art would also greatly influence Pop Art and remains central to the broadening collector base that generative art today enjoys. Vasarely also questioned the “lone genius” artist which would inspire the New Tendencies groups of the ’60s, especially Group de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV). GRAV was significantly influenced by Vasarely’s Yellow Manifesto and included two of generative art’s most timeless icons: Vera Molnár and François Morellet. Other members included Yvaral Vasarely (Victor’s son) and Julio Le Parc.