Pioneer Work: Mohr
Manfred Mohr taught himself how to write programs at the end of the 1960s. He had an artistic education and lived as a painter and jazz musician in Paris at that time.
Influenced by Max Bense, Mohr was searching the rationality in art when he discovered the computer as an artistic tool.
In 1969 he created his first computer art and is working ever since with the computer.
He was the first computer artist to bring his generative art to a museum.
In 1971 he had a solo exhibition at the ARC - Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris:
Computer Graphics "Une Esthétique Programmée".
»Pioneer Work: Manfred Mohr« presents some of his early algorithmic experiments, generated between 1969 and 1973, and also graphics from other periods.
The work titles correspond with the number of the program used. The programs developed by Mohr are chronologically numbered and the
works are in general marked with additional letters according to the phase or variation of the program.
An overview of the different work stages of the artist as well as a detailed biography and writings can be found on his website www.emohr.com.
Phase: Early Algorithmic Experiments
In 1976 Mohr published »Scratch Code«, a portfolio of eight screen printed algorithmic works.
His early motifs resemble cryptic writings - not of ancient but of future civilizations - and continue so into his next work phase »Cubic Limit«.
For more details on the algorithms of the different motifs please visit www.emohr.com (see: MONOGRAPH / early algorithms).
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Manfred Mohr: P-021 (band structure)
screen print after plotter drawing, 1976, from the portfolio »Scratch Code«
idea and program: Manfred Mohr
generated: 1970
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Phase: Cubic Limit
In his »Cubic Limit« phase, between 1973 and 1978, Mohr starts to use the cube as a script-like, artistic instrument and works on cube divisions.
A detailed description can be found on www.emohr.com (see: art works/monograph).
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Manfred Mohr: Cubic Limit (P-196)
offset lithography, 1979
edition: 250
idea and program: Manfred Mohr
generated: 1977
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Phase: Divisibility
Calculations and projections of multidimensional cubes are Manfred Mohr´s tools and language.
In his work phase »Divisibility«, between 1980 and 1986, he works again with cube divisions and with a computer generated »growth« of cube depictions.
See also: www.emohr.com (see: art works/monograph).
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Manfred Mohr: P-370-DD
offset lithography, 1984
idea and program: Manfred Mohr, 1984
generated: 1984
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Phase: Line Cluster
Multidimensional cubes, hypercubes, set the invisible frames for Mohr´s works.
The »Line Clusters« he worked on between 1989 and 1990 are derived from projections of a multidimensional cube.
See also: www.emohr.com (art works/monograph).
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Manfred Mohr: Line Cluster,
screen print, 1989, from the edition »BLANC PAGE #2«
idea and program: Manfred Mohr
generated: around 1989
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Une esthétique programmée
The catalogue »Computer Graphics. Une esthétique programmée« of the exhibition at the
A-R-C Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 11. May - 6. June 1971.
Artist´s Profile
Manfred Mohr
Born 1939 in Pforzheim, Germany, the passionate jazz musician (Tenor-Sax, Oboe) lives in New York.
Find the biography of Manfred Mohr on the artist´s website: www.emohr.com.
There are also interesting films on his YouTube channel: Manfred Mohr.
Also on YouTube: An interview with Manfred Mohr at the art Basel.
Many group and solo exhibitions, e.g.:
»Une Esthétique Programmée« ARC - Musée d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris 1971
»Fractured Symmetry« Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany, 1987
»space color« Museum for Concrete Art, Ingolstadt, Germany, 2001
»Ex Machina – Frühe Computergrafik bis 1979« sowie »broken symmetry« Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany, 2007
»bit international« ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany, 2008-2009
»Der Algorithmus des Manfred Mohr« ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany, 2013
»Programmierte Kunst. Frühe Computergraphik.« Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany, 2018
»Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers« Victoria and Albert Museum, London, GB, 2018
and e.g. publicized in:
Computer-Grafik Galerie. Herbert W. Franke (1984)
Computergraphik - Computerkunst. Herbert W. Franke (1985)
Ex Machina – Frühe Computergrafik bis 1979. Hrsg. Wulf Herzogenrath und Barbara Nierhoff-Wielk (2007)
A Little-Known Story about a Movement, a Magazine and the Computer´s Arrival in Art: New Tendencies and Bit International. Hrsg. Margit Rosen (2011)
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