Robert Mallary

mallary_picture

Robert Mallary (1917- 1997)

Born 1917-12-02 in Toledo,Ohio, USA.
Died 1997-02-10 in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA.

Robert Mallary was a renowned artist early in his career and a computer arts pioneer. He was a professor in the art department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst from 1967 till his death. He is more famous for the neo-dada junk sculpture and his use of industrial materials like acrylic and polyester plastics, with fluorescent dyes and pigments to produce assemblage relief constructions, than his computer art. He has been involved actively with making ‘computer art’ since 1967, impressed by it’s cybernetic potential and viewing it as an “ intelligence and information amplification device which will be linked synergistically with … the human mind ,” . He was one of the first artists to have spoken about the health hazards caused by working with industrial materials.

In his own words “My contributions to computer art over the years include: learning to write and use my own computer programs; developing the first program, ECOSITE, for the design of land reclamation and earth sculpture; developing a series of large programs oriented to the lineal character of computer-driven pen plotters; developing a large library of tutorial programs and subroutines (over 150 in all) to support my creative work and teaching; and creating and exhibiting a large oeuvre of computer-graphic art that has drawn upon the resources of this library. I have also written articles and lectured extensively on computer art. “ – SIGGRAPH 97 Visual proceedings.
Web site: http://www.robertmallary.com/
Cited in: bit international. [Nove] tendencije - Comput..., A Little-Known Story about a Movement, a Maga..., Visual Intelligence: The First Decade of Comp..., Artificial Reality II
Programming languages/software used: FORTRAN

1925 Began studying art.

1938 to 1939 Studied at Escuela de Las Artes Del Libro, Mexico City. Impressed by ideas of Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siquerios relating to Art and Technology and began experimenting with plastics.

1941 Studied at the Painter’s Workshop School, Boston.

1942 to 1943 Studied at the Academia San Carlos, Mexico City.

1942 to 1943 Conducted a research Project on Experimental Media with Orozco.

1945 to 1954 Worked in Advertising graphics and simulataneously developed luminiscient sculpture with industrial materials like lucite, acetate, fiber glass, polyster, black light etc.

1949 to 1950 Taught at the California School of Art, Los Angeles.

1954 Exhibited Polyster paintings at the Urban gallery, New York.

1950 to 1954 Taught at the Hollywood Art Center School and the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

1956 Particpated in the travelling group exhibition “Forty California Painters”.

1959 to 1967 Moved to New York to teach at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.

1961, 62 and 66 Showed new works at Allan Stone Gallery.

1962 Taught at Pennsylvania State University.

1963 and 1967 Taught at University of California,Davis.

1964 Recieved a Guggenheim grant and started working in bronze.

1964 Stopped using polyster resin because of it’s toxicity (One of the first artists to write about material hazards) and gradually turned to the computer by 1967.

1965 Taught at the University of Minnesota.

1967 Started teaching at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA and got the opportunity to try out computers.

1968 Retrospective of his work organised at the University of New York, Potsdam.

1968 Exhibited a computer- designed sculpture at the “Cybernetic Serendipity”, ICA, London.

1993 Exhibition of his new assembelages and computer graphics held at Algus Gallery, Soho, New York.

mallary_picture

Robert Mallary (1917- 1997)

 
Last change by hemant on 15th of July 2010