Vera Molnár (b. 1924, Budapest – d. 2023, Paris) was a pioneer of generative and computer art. From the late 1950s, she used simple algorithms to compose abstract paintings and drawings, calling her process an ‘imaginary machine’. In 1968, she gained access to a computer and, after learning the FORTRAN computer programming language, produced the Interruptions series of works on paper, one of which is presented here. Taking a grid as her starting point, the artist applied a random rotation to each of the lines from which it is composed, creating an irregular structure of contradictory forces. Molnár then instructed the program to randomly erase certain zones, causing interruptions in the composition. In 1974, she collaborated with her husband, François Molnár to create their own software, Molnart. During this time, she produced the Hypertransformationen Serie (1974): She substituted the straight lines of a square motif with undulating ones and in that way played with the principles of doubling and repetition.
Lettres à ma mère (1988, displayed in a vitrine) employs a computer to reinterpret the artist’s mother’s handwriting. Molnár describes it as ‘regular, strict, Gothic, but as the line moved towards the side of the page it became more and more nervous, worried, almost hysterical’. Over the years, she noticed that the letters became increasingly tormented. When her mother stopped writing to her, the artist simulated the letters ‘for herself’, using computer programming to imitate her distinctive handwriting.