Hervé Fischer

Hervé Fischer (born Paris, 1941) is a French and Canadian artist, philosopher and sociologist, best known for his "sociological art", a current he created in 1971 that combines artistic creation with public participation. His career links university teaching, artistic practice and philosophical reflection on culture and technology.

Trained at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, he taught the sociology of communication and culture at the Sorbonne. From the 1970s he led participatory projects with radio, television and print media in many European and Latin American countries before settling in Quebec. He took part in the Venice Biennale (1976), the São Paulo Biennial (1981) and Documenta 7 in Kassel (1982), and held solo exhibitions in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santiago and Havana, among other cities.

Since 1999 he has returned to painting with a focus on the digital age. He held the Daniel Langlois chair in digital technologies and fine arts at Concordia University in Montreal. In his book Nous serons des dieux (2006) he challenged religious fundamentalism and contrasted the "upright man" of ancient Athens with the "kneeling man" of the monotheistic tradition rooted in Jerusalem. His legacy lies in both his artistic work and his influence on debates about technology and culture in Canada.