The American Algorists: Linear Sublime Hébert | Mohr | Verostko | Wilson
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The American Algorists: Linear Sublime Hébert | Mohr | Verostko | Wilson August 30 – October 20, 2013 Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA October 27 – November 27, 2013 Westside Gallery School of Visual Arts, New York City The American Algorists: Linear Sublime August 30 – October 20, 2013 Artist Talk Friday, August 30, Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, 4 p.m. Algorist artists Jean-Pierre Hébert and Mark Wilson. Opening Reception Lenders to the Exhibition Friday, August 30, Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, 5-7 p.m. Anne and Michael Spalter, the Anne and Michael Spalter Digital Art Collection, Hosted by Lebanon Valley College President Lewis Evitts Thayne and Dorry Thayne. Jean-Pierre Hébert, Manfred Mohr, Roman Verostko, Mark Wilson Lecture Sponsors Monday, September 9, Zimmerman Recital Hall, 5 p.m. Support is provided by the Lebanon Valley College Colloquium, Anne and Algorist artist Roman Verostko. Michael Spalter, the New York Digital Salon, School of Visual Arts MFA Computer Art Department, Lebanon Valley College’s Master of Science Art Discussion/Colloquium Education and the STEM program, Suzanne and Ronald Schrotberger, and Wednesday, October 16, Zimmerman Recital Hall, 5 p.m. contributing members of the Friends of the Gallery. Manfred Mohr, digital art pioneer, and Dr. Grant D. Taylor will discuss Mohr’s groundbreaking use of the computer during the culturally volatile early 1970s in Paris, where he was attacked for employing computers Copyright © 2013 Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pennsylvania. to create his art. Talk will be held in conjunction with the College’s annual Colloquium “Revolution.” All rights reserved. Catalog design: Bachleda Advertising Gallery Hours Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania Wednesday, 5 – 8 p.m. Catalog printing: Intelligencer Printing Company Thursday – Friday, 1 – 4:30 p.m. Lancaster, Pennsylvania Saturday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. On the cover and by appointment for groups. Detail, Jean-Pierre Hébert, Pillar of Infinitude, Fragment, 2011, inkjet pigments To arrange a private gallery talk for your school or organization, please contact on Niyodo paper, 22 x 17 inches, artist’s collection. the Gallery at [email protected] or 717-867-6445. Acknowledgements The American Algorists: Linear Sublime (Aug. 30 – Oct. 20, 2013) would not be possible without the sponsorship of the Lebanon came to fruition thanks to the collaboration and contributions Valley College Colloquium headed by Dr. Robert Valgenti, of many individuals. First and foremost, our thanks go to director of the College Colloquium. Special thanks are given Dr. Grant D. Taylor, Associate Professor of Art History at to Anne and Michael Spalter, the New York Digital Salon, Lebanon Valley College for curating this innovative exhibition and Lebanon Valley College’s Master of Science Education and bringing to light the works of the Algorists as an and the STEM program for their sponsorship of this exhibition. important chapter in the history of American art through We are grateful for the support of President Lewis Thayne his elegantly written essay. The Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery and his wife Dorry for their efforts to make this a memorable would like to extend sincere thanks to those who so generously exhibition. For their continued support, we thank Suzanne and loaned works to this exhibition: Anne and Michael Spalter, Ronald Schrotberger, the Gallery Advisory Council, the Friends Jean-Pierre Hébert, Manfred Mohr, Roman Verostko, and of the Gallery and the many members who have generously Mark Wilson. A special word of appreciation is extended to supported this exhibition. Bruce Wands, director of the New York Digital Salon and Chair of the MFA Computer Art Department at the School Barbara R. McNulty, Ph.D. of the Visual Arts for hosting this exhibition at the SVA Director, Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery Westside Gallery and for writing the foreword to the catalog. Grateful thanks are extended to G. Daniel Massad for editing and contributing to the text. Crista Detweiler’s unflagging assistance in all aspects of the preparation of this exhibition is deeply appreciated. The American Algorists: Linear Sublime 1 Foreword in the First New York Digital Salon in future of contemporary art. Using the 1993, and Manfred Mohr has appeared programming language ArtSpeaK, Bruce Wands in several salons. I have followed their I saw that the computer could draw Director, New York Digital Salon careers closely, and as the current lines and shapes with far more precision Chair, SVA MFA Computer Art Department Chair of the SIGGRAPH Art Awards than the human hand, and offered Committee, I should note that new conceptual territory rooted in To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Jean-Pierre Hébert was selected for mathematics. In these early years, there New York Digital Salon, we have chosen was considerable resistance from the the exhibition The American Algorists: the Distinguished Artist Award for established art community to recognize Linear Sublime, which showcases the Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art in new media. Computer art could not works of Jean-Pierre Hébert, Manfred 2012 and Manfred Mohr is the 2013 be categorized within the traditional Mohr, Roman Verostko, and Mark recipient. Roman Verostko received fine art standards of drawing, painting, Wilson. Curated by Dr. Grant D. Taylor, the award in 2009. and sculpture. The lack of archival Associate Professor of Art History at I first became involved in computer art printing methods and curators who Lebanon Valley College, the exhibition in 1976 while a graduate student at understood digital creativity added to begins its run at the Suzanne H. Arnold Syracuse University. The only computing the struggle. In his 1985 book Drawing Art Gallery from August 30 to October resource available was the university’s with Computers, Mark Wilson expressed, 20, 2013. The exhibition will be on view IBM mainframe. Access was limited— “In the past, computer art has elicited at the Westside Gallery, School of Visual we would drop off a stack of punch much interest. While the art world Arts in New York City from October 27 cards in the morning and retrieve a line became enamored with technology in to November 27, 2013. drawing anywhere from a few hours the late sixties, it soon lost interest … The creative histories of these artists later to the next day. However primitive New realism and photorealism became go back decades. Roman Verostko this may seem by today’s standards, it dominant in the seventies and, in turn, and Mark Wilson exhibited their work presented an epiphany regarding the were displaced by a rekindled interest 2 in expressionism. Thus, the New York who began working with conceptual patterns in the sand made through art world has largely ignored computer algorithmic art in 1974. His work has digitally controlling a steel ball. art.” This statement comes close to appeared in seventeen SIGGRAPH Art Beginning his creative career in the encapsulating the history of digital art. Shows. In 1995, he co-founded “The late 1950s as a jazz musician and The initial infatuation with computer art Algorists” with Roman Verostko, and painter, Manfred Mohr initially focused was seen simply as a trend. Since then, they were joined by Hans Dehlinger, on gestural abstraction. In 1962, he this has changed and contemporary Helaman Ferguson, Manfred Mohr, Ken began the exclusive use of black and art using new technologies is now Musgrave, and Mark Wilson. Technically, white as a means of visual expression. viewed as just that—contemporary art. Hébert’s work rests on simple coding After discovering Professor Max Emerging artists have never known a informed by geometry, mathematics, Bense’s information aesthetic, his art world without computers and therefore physics, and great attention to transformed from abstract expressionism do not draw the lines of distinction that rendering details. Some of his concepts to computer-generated algorithmic existed previously. What is incomplete stem from Zen Buddhism and a spiritual geometry. The influence of mathematics is the art historical record. approach to life. In my book Art of the and music gives his work a core essence Dr. Taylor selected Gaussian-Quadratic, Digital Age Hébert states, “For twenty of rhythm and repetition. In 1972, Mohr created in 1962-63 by A. Michael Noll, years my personal endeavor has been to turned to sequential drawings of the to set the tone for the exhibition and create new kinds of drawings, where my fixed structure of a cube, and made establish the line as a key component mind or my eyes or my hand would no his first computer-generated films. He of digital art. Noll was a researcher at longer be a limit.” In addition to six of renewed his work on the 4D hypercube Bell Labs, which was a vital center for his prints, the exhibition includes works in 1987, and began to use color in 1998 the development and exploration of from Artist Book: Twenty-Four Views to show the complexity of the work computer art and music. The exhibition of the Metagon and Sand Installation: through differentiation. Four years later, then highlights Jean-Pierre Hébert, Ryo-an-ji, which explores ephemeral he designed and built small PCs to run 3 his program “space.color,” and in 2004 work can dissociate itself from its logical Diamond Lake Apocalypse, and wrote the program “subsets.” The content and stand convincingly as an Manchester Illuminated Universal resulting images are visualized on LCD independent abstract entity.” Mohr won Turing Machine, produced in honor panels in slow, non-repetitive motion. the Golden Nica from Ars Electronica of Alan Turing. When referring to his His latest software “Artificiata II” in 1990, which is the highest award a creative work, Verostko says, “I have creates digital paintings and animations digital artist can receive. sought to create original forms that that are based on the eleventh- to are unique realities without reference thirteenth-dimensional hypercube and Roman Verostko maintains an uses diagonal paths as graphic elements.