Bernard Venet, French, b. 1941
In 2005, Bernar Venet received France's highest accolade; he was named Chevalier de la Legion D'Honneur. As puzzling as his pioneer conceptual performance work of the 60s and 70s, which relied heavily on scientific texts, mathematical vocabulary, and philosophy, Bernard Venet is still confounding audiences. His book, a collection of 17 essays and interviews spanning 1975-2003 entitled Art: A Matter of Context, was published in August 2005.