Olivier Mosset

Olivier Mosset (born 1944) is a Swiss visual artist. Mosset is best known for his series of monochrome paintings, each featuring a black circle, of which he produced hundreds.

In Paris in the 1960s, he was a member of the BMPT (art group), along with Daniel Buren, Michel Parmentier, and Niele Toroni. The group questioned notions of authorship and originality, implying that they often did each other's works, and that the art object was more important than its authorship. He became a founding member of the New York Radical Painting group, radical referring both to an implied radical social stance, as well as a returning to the radical “root” of painting.

In 2012 the artist created stage designs for a ballet, entitled Sous Apparence, at the Paris Opera Ballet. Mosset is also well known for his sculptures. From 1993 onwards he has created Toblerones, which are meant to reference the Swiss anti-tank barrages (for which the candy is also named). In 2014 the artist created a version of his Toblerones in ice for the Elevation 1049 exhibition in Gstaad.

Related Works

• Ellsworth Kelly, a pioneer of minimalism, was known for stripping down artwork to its most basic elements of color and form. View his work.

• In our sister gallery, form & concept, jeweler Joanne Grimonprez specializes in creating minimalist geometric adornment out of black rope and copper bands. View her work.