Olivier Mosset

Renowned for his monochromatic, abstract geometric paintings, Swiss artist Olivier Mosset stands as a pivotal figure in post-war abstraction.  

Biography of Olivier Mosset

Olivier Mosset was born in 1944 in Bern, Switzerland. In his youth, Olivier Mosset encountered the works of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns at the local Kunsthalle. Inspired by them, he relocated to Paris after completing high school to study at the Ecole du Louvre.

During the 1960s in Paris, he was a part of the BMPT art group, alongside Daniel Buren, Michel Parmentier, and Niele Toroni, with their initials forming the collective acronym. The group challenged concepts of authorship and originality, suggesting that they often executed each other's works, emphasizing the significance of the art object over its authorship.

As a young artist, Mosset served as an assistant to both Jean Tinguely and Daniel Spoerri. Through Tinguely, he had the chance to briefly visit New York in 1967 and meet Andy Warhol.

Relocating to the United States in 1977, Olivier Mosset immersed himself in the vibrant New York City art scene. His artistic approach underwent a transformation, transitioning from the centrally focused format of his earlier European years to creating very large monochromatic paintings on rectangular canvases. 

In New York, Mosset played a key role as a founding member of the New York Radical Painting group. The term "radical" encompassed both an implied radical social stance and a return to the radical "root" of painting.

During the 1980s, neo-geo artists, including Peter Halley, who advocated for a socially relevant and critical role for geometric abstraction, acknowledged Mosset as an influence.

Mosset represented Switzerland at the 44th Venice Biennale in 1990. 

In 1997, he relocated to Tuscon, Arizona. Currently, the artist lives and works in boty New York and Tuscon.

Olivier Mosset's Art Style

Inspired by abstract, conceptual, and minimalist art, Mosset is widely acknowledged for his monochrome, shaped, minimalist paintings. One notable series includes over 200 identical oil paintings created from 1966 to 1974. All these paintings feature a square white canvas measuring 100 cm by 100 cm, adorned with a black circle painted in the center.  

Continuing to evolve, Olivier Mosset delved into appropriation and critiques of Modernism during the 1980s, influenced by Warhol and Pop art. In his sculpture "Toblerones" (1993), while preserving the characteristics of a Minimalist structure, the work alludes to the form and name of Swiss anti-tank blocks, inspired by the renowned triangular chocolate.

Since the mid-1990s, Olivier Mosset has incorporated motorcycles as ready-mades, reflecting his enduring fascination with these vehicles throughout his career.