In the bustling heart of Mayfair, London, an extraordinary exhibition is set to take the stage, merging human creativity with machine intelligence. Gazelli Art House and tech partner Verisart are preparing to launch their first co-curated exhibition, “GEN/GEN: Generative Generations.” This exhibition, which spans six decades, is slated to run from Sept. 8 to Oct. 7, 2023, with a preview on Sept. 7.
The exhibition will showcase works from a diverse group of artists, including Loren Bednar, Darien Brito, Sougwen Chung, Harold Cohen, Brendan Dawes, Ernest Edmonds, Licia He, Tyler Hobbs, Ben Kovach, William Latham, Rhea Myers, Piter Pasma, Monica Rizzolli, Melissa Wiederrecht, and Stephen Willats. These artists, each with their unique approach to generative art, have created a dialogue between human and machine that transcends time and generations.
The exhibition will occupy all three floors of Gazelli Art House’s central Mayfair gallery, continuing the gallery’s longstanding interest in and promotion of digital art. This comes after Gazelli Art House’s “The AARON Retrospective” and ahead of a major museum survey in 2024. The gallery has deepened investigations into computer art pioneer Harold Cohen’s practice by aligning his work with three of his peers – Ernest Edmonds, William Latham, and Stephen Willats – while recontextualizing these works through an array of contemporary generative artists.
Among the highlights of the exhibition will be Cohen’s seminal works from the mid-80s and the “In AARON’s Garden” series (2007), both created via AARON, a computer program the artist designed to create art independently. Works from fractal geometrist Edmonds will include U-matic tape recordings of AI-programmed film and computer-generated, hand-modified images.
The exhibition will also feature works by previous GAZELL.iO residents Sougwen Chung and Rhea Myers and represented artist Brendan Dawes. These artists display interactive contributions that bridge the divide between artwork and observer.
Broadening the boundaries of contemporary explorations into generative art, Monica Rizzolli, Darien Brito, and Loren Bednar will present never-before-seen artworks. Ben Kovach and Melissa Wiederrecht will present works that straddle both the physical and the digital realms, probing ideas of authorship that arise when human and machine collaborate.
In featuring artists who have embraced generative art throughout various periods, “GEN/GEN: Generative Generations” focuses on our intergenerational fascination with human and machine interconnections, and how this dialogue can transcend time. This exhibition is a testament to the timeless dialogue between art and technology, a dialogue that continues to shape our understanding of creativity and innovation.
