Primordial, an exhibition opening at the Jewett Gallery at Wellesley College on Thursday, October 25, pairs two artists, Constance Jacobson and David Hart, who use new and traditional media to explore generation, evolution and genetics to create new universes and life forms. Fabricated organisms that resemble actual scientific imagery, and range in scale from the microscopic to cosmic, come alive in these imaginedworlds. On view through November 27, the exhibition is free and open to the public.
David Hart’s work explores the aesthetic possibilities of pure mathematical equations. According to the artist, “I am specifically seeking out forms that are organic enough to challenge any viewer’s notions of what mathematics can visually represent. The vehicle for this exploration is interactive artificial evolution, a computational analogy to natural selection,which allows me to literally grow and create complex and beautiful images using equations as DNA.”
Constance Jacobson’s engaging art evokes the frontiers of human perception, understanding and interaction. Fluent in all areas of printmaking, itis the primary visual language by which she translates a fascination with biology, biodiversity, ecology and the connectedness of all life forms into arresting and poetic images.
Primordial is curated by Jewett Gallery Director Clara Lieu, who says “What’s exciting about these two artists is their approaches using both classic and experimental media to explore scientific themes and create their own imagined worlds.”
For more information, visit http://jewettgallery.wordpress.com/exhibitions/2011-2012-season/primordial/or call 781-283-2042.
The Jewett Gallery is located at Wellesley College, 106 Central St., Wellesley, Mass. Gallery Hours: Daily 12-5 p.m. Free parking is available in the Davis Parking Facility. Directions and a map of the campus are online at www.wellesley.edu/Admin/travel.html.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
David Hart is a computer scientist and artist who works with interactive artificial evolution, a computational analogy to natural selection,which allows him to grow and create images using mathematical equations. Hart begins with very simple equations that are mutated randomly to produce a population of new equations. He then selectively chooses images that are crossbred and randomly mutated to produce the next generation. Using software that he has written himself, this process repeats for hundreds of generations before the final images are achieved.
Hart studied computer graphics and mathematics at the University of Utah and Cornell University. He has worked in the fields of digital art, medical imaging, video games and computer generated films. He currently lives and works in Salt Lake City, Utah. dahart.com
Constance Jacobson works in printmaking and digital media to create fabricated scientific imagery from an imagined parallel universe. Her images make references to cellular morphologies and communities. In her digital work, Jacobson uses a scanner as a camera by placing everyday objects such as Q-tips, corn kernels, and dried mango slices on the scanning bed. The tonal range references imagery produced by the scanning of an electron microscope. Jacobson is currently a Professor of Printmaking at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. She completed her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art and also studied at Chatham College and the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the New York Public Library, the DeCordova Museum and the Fogg Art Museum. constancejacobson.com
ABOUT WELLESLEY COLLEGE & THE ARTS
The Wellesley College arts curriculum and the highly acclaimed Davis Museum and Cultural Center are integral components of the college’s liberal arts education. Various departments and programs from across the campus enliven the community with world-class programming — classical and popular music, visual arts, theater, dance, author readings, symposia, and lectures by some of today’s leading artists and creative thinkers — most of which are free and open to the public.
Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,400 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 75 countries.
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