The algorithm has become one of the most ubiquitous — and least understood — words of our time. Originally a sequence of mathematical instructions, it now structures our information flows, our cultural recommendations, our social relationships and our smart cities. Galerie Charlot chose to inaugurate its Tel Aviv-Yafo space with an exhibition that invites us to see the algorithm not as an abstract threat or an opaque technical tool, but as a fully fledged space for artistic exploration.

The artists brought together for The Artside of Algorithms — all represented by the gallery — share the use of code and computational processes not as mere instruments of production but as the very subject of their research. They thus reveal the aesthetics inherent in algorithms: their capacity to generate complexity from simple rules, to produce surprise within deterministic systems, to create forms no one could have imagined alone. By opening with this exhibition, Galerie Charlot affirms its vocation: to be, in Paris as in Tel Aviv, a meeting place for art, science and technology.

To mark the opening of Galerie Charlot's new space in Tel Aviv-Yafo, the gallery presents the group exhibition "The Artside of Algorithms", bringing together a selection of artists represented by the gallery.

Originally a mathematical notion defining a sequence of actions to be carried out, the word “algorithm” has become very present in our daily lives through its use in computer systems, Internet data processing and, more broadly, Big Data.

Algorithms are increasingly present in our lives, bringing with them a host of questions about our decision-making abilities, our privacy and our freedom.

In contrast to this commercial, control-oriented vision of how algorithms are applied, a group of artists began as early as the 1960s to use this same mathematical process to create works of art. By appropriating these new information technologies for artistic purposes, these artists show us an alternative to the original function of our machines, creating still and moving images.

“The Artside of Algorithms” is a multi-generational exhibition in which the artists use a wide range of media.

A pioneer of computer-assisted art, Manfred Mohr presents plotter drawings produced in the 1990s, while French artist Antoine Schmitt questions the process of movement and its intrinsic issues through infinitely generated videos. Anne-Sarah Le Meur seeks to reveal the poetry and sensuality of light and movement in her experimental 3D work. Several works by Zaven Paré, an eclectic artist combining art and robotics, will be shown alongside an installation by Eric Vernhes creating a new generative writing system.

All the artists are represented by Galerie Charlot, founded in Paris in 2010 by Valérie Hasson-Benillouche, who was later joined by Valentina Peri in 2011.

Still pursuing its aim of promoting digital art, Galerie Charlot brings to Tel Aviv-Yafo its particular taste for experimentation in contemporary art practices. The gallery owes its international reputation to its bold vision and its focus on emerging art forms. The opening of the new space in Tel Aviv-Yafo is a new stage in the gallery's international development.