Mohr's algorithmic images are based on complex rules invented by the artist. The conceptual rules are systematic processes performed by a computer, but they involve random decisions with unpredictable results. The works can be difficult to understand initially and require a willingness from the viewer to interrogate the material. The experience of viewing the work, however, is not intended to be rational, but rather abstract and personal.
Mohr has used a computer to generate his art since 1968 and is considered a pioneer in this field. Since 1973, Mohr has concentrated on fracturing the structure of cubes as a system and an alphabet.
Manfred Mohr has used computers to generate his art since 1968 and is considered a pioneer in this field.
In 1968 he co-founded the seminar Art et Informatique at Vincenne University and in 1971 had a solo exhibit at the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris. Since then, that exhibition has become known historically as the first solo show in a museum of works entirely calculated and drawn by a computer.
Recent solo exhibitions of his work include bitforms gallery (New York, 2006), the Digital Art Museum, and The Museum of Concret Art (Berlin). Major retrospectives of his work include the Joseph Albers Museum (Bottrop, Germany, 1998), and the Wilhelm-Hack- Museum (Ludwigshafen, Germany, 1987).
Mohr has had numerous solo exhibitions with both museums and galleries in New York, Zürich, Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Berlin, Montreal, São Paulo, and Seoul. Additionally he has participated in group exhibitions at the Leo Castelli Gallery and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Mohr's work is collected by the Centre Pompidou (Paris); the Joseph Albers Museum (Bottrop); the Ludwig Museum (Cologne); the Museum for Concret Art (Ingolstadt); the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart; Musée d'Art Contemporain (Montreal); Musée des Beaux-Arts (Montreal); the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam); Musée de l'Elysée (Switzerland); and many others worldwide.
Mohr has received many awards including a Fellowship from the New York Foundation of the Arts in 1997; the 1990 Golden Nica from Ars Electronica (Linz); the 1990 Camille Graesser- Preis (Zürich); and the 1973 Ljubljana Print Biennial. In 1994, the first comprehensive monograph on his work was published by Waser-Verlag in Zürich, Switzerland.
