Bernar Venet is a French conceptual artist known for his curved, mathematically precise metal sculptures that appear to defy gravity. Prominent in the New York City avant-garde art scene of the late sixties, Venet was instrumental in developing a radical new direction in art which involved the use of mathematics and scientific language. In the early 1980s, Venet began to make monumental linear improvisations in steel of which his “Arcs,” “Straight Lines” and “Indeterminate Lines” have become his most renowned. Each of these series expresses different notions of Venet’s interest in the mathematics of order versus chaos. Using a technique that has been described as “Action Sculpture in slow motion” Venet meticulously balances his vision for the material with how the steel naturally lends itself to the warping effects of pressure and heat.