Provenance

The artist
Private collection


Exhibitions

Refactoring (1966-74), Gazelli Art House, London, UK (2024)
XXXIII Venice Biennale, British Pavilion, Venice, Italy (1966)


About the work

One of five paintings Harold Cohen created in 1966 for inclusion in the 33rd Venice Biennale, 'Sentinel' is emblematic of Cohen’s evolving interest in painting according to a predetermined set of governing rules; a process of formal codification that examined the constituent conditions of a painting and questioned the artist’s position within this process. This shift in approach and conceptual understanding was to prove monumental on the trajectory of Cohen’s career.

Visually, 'Sentinel' differs from Cohen’s previous paintings by way of the speckled coloured ground. Thrown on whilst the painting was laid flat, the speckled ground was motivated by a desire to emphasise the cohesiveness of the painting, where the work is ‘determined from the first mark.’ Describing a migration towards a painting process whereby the work ‘paints itself’, Cohen’s introduction of rules signified a relinquishing of the decisive capabilities of the artist. Destabilising his own artistic autonomy, this period foretells Cohen’s innovations in the realm of computer generated art and anticipates the creation of AARON, his artificially intelligent drawing machine. The foundational interest in painting by rules, of renouncing control, that characterises much of Cohen’s conceptual grounding can be traced to this determining moment in the history of computer art.