Since the early 1990s, Venet has created many variations of Effondrements, Dispersions and Accidents, continuing his early interest in gravity and the interaction between different elements that determine a sculpture’s form.
In Effondrement:Arcs, Venet creates a sea of debris shaped over the course of time. Arcs of Cor-ten steel are toppled and piled on top of each other, with the pieces colliding in counter curves. The work bears a formal resemblance to Peter Paul Ruben’s The Fall of the Rebel Angels, a painting Venet first saw in 1960 when he was 19 years old – one year before discovering mastic asphalt, which gave wings to his art. It sparked a series of paintings and sculptures entirely indebted to gravity: In 1961, the artist poured tar onto pieces of cardboard for Déchets. In 1963, he covered a monochrome canvas in tar for Goudrons, and also created the first formless sculpture of contemporary art: Tas de charbon, a heap of coal resting on the rubble of civilization.
