Digital Art Waves

Curated by Valerie Hasson-Benillouche

Artists: Louis-Paul Caron, Nikolas Chasser Skilbeck, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Thomas Israel, Eduardo Kac, Anne-Sarah Le Meur, Lauren Moffat, Manfred Mohr, Kika Nicolela, Quayola, Sabrina Ratté, Nicolas Sassoon, Antoine Schmitt, Eric Vernhes.

Art is a «laboratory» in which, from a few sketches of reality, the contours of the «not yet there» are imagined and moulded, as Ernst Bloch (1885-1977) said. Yves Klein, in his exhibition «Le Vide» at the Iris Clert Gallery, was already rethinking the definition of a work of art in 1958 by introducing the concept of virtuality. Could these notions of «real and immaterial» be at the origin of what we call today «digital art»? Artists have always used new technologies to experiment in their artistic «research laboratories». From Leonardo Da Vinci to Nam June Paik, Saraceno, Manfred Mohr or James Turrell, Art/Science/Technology are intertwined and merged through the artists’ creativity. These digital tools open up new perspectives in the very concept of the work of art, where the material and the immaterial come together and transport us to unknown and fascinating worlds. These digital works, videos, photographs, generative, interactive, using AI, AR or VR, are increasingly present on the contemporary art market and can be acquired in fiduciary or crypto-currency. Certificates of authenticity and backup are established, depending on the purchase method, on a USB key, a paper document or on the Blokchain for NFTs. The multiple forms of digital art are as numerous experiences to be enjoyed individually as they are to be shared within a community.