The exhibition « Beyond the lines » features a selection of historical and recent works by Manfred Mohr, pioneer of computer assisted art, next to a series of new pieces by Eric Vernhes. This exhibition explores the relationship between algorithmic script writing and sign, between invisible code and visible forms, through a selection of plotter drawings, prints and generative installations.

Manfred Mohr is considered a pioneer of digital art. After discovering Prof. Max Bense’s «information aesthetics» in the early 1960’s, Mohr’s artistic thinking was radically changed. Within a few years, his art transformed from abstract expressionism to computer generated algorithmic geometry. Encouraged by the computer music composer Pierre Barbaud whom he met in 1967, Mohr programmed his first computer drawings in 1969.

Some of the collections in which he is represented: Centre Pompidou, Paris; Joseph Albers Museum, Bottrop; Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Chicago; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Ludwig Museum, Cologne; Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen; Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg; Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg; Daimler Contemporary, Berlin; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montreal; Borusan Art Collection, Istanbul; McCrory Collection, New York; Esther Grether Collection, Basel.

Mohr has had many one-person shows / retrospectives in museums and galleries like: ARC - Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris 1971; Joseph Albers Museum, Bottrop 1998; Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen 1987, 2002; Museum for Concrete Art, Ingolstadt 2001; Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen 2007; Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg 2005; Grazyna Kulczyk Foundation, Poznan 2007; ZKM - Media Museum, Karlsruhe 2013; Featured Artist at Art Basel, Basel 2013.

He took part in innumerable group shows for example at: MoMA - Museum of Modern Art, New York 1980; Centre Pompidou, Paris 1978, 1992; ZKM (Center for Art and Media), Karlsruhe 2005, 2008, 2010; Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013; Museo Nacional Centro de Reina Sofia, Madrid 1989; MoCA, Los Angeles 1975; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo 1984; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco 1973, 1977, 1980; MoMA-PS1, New York 2008; MACM - Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montreal 1974, 1985, 2013; Fundacion Banco Santander, Madrid 2014; Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz 1981, 2011; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1999; Leo Castelli Gallery, New York 1978; Galerie Paul Facchetti, Paris 1965 und Zürich 1970.

Among the awards he received are: ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art, 2013; [ddaa] d.velop Digital Art Award, Berlin 2006; Artist Fellowship, New York Foundation of the Arts, New York 1997; Golden Nica from Ars Electronica, Linz 1990; Camille Graesser-Preis, Zürich 1990.