A Generative Movement

On the occasion of bitforms gallery's 20th anniversary, we are pleased to present A Generative Movement in San Francisco at Minnesota Street Project.

The exhibition, showcasing generative artwork from Refik Anadol, Daniel Canogar, LIA, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Manfred Mohr, Casey Reas, Siebren Versteeg, and Marina Zurkow, celebrates artistic vision through computational innovation with works spanning from 1971–2021. Although algorithmic in part, exhibited works are a human exploration of process—each piece is guided by unique parameters to construct a desired outcome. A Generative Movement manfiests generative software's ability to act as an artistic tool with evolving outputs. 

bitforms gallery has long celebrated software-based artworks. Previous exhibitions have contextualized generative work as a performative extension of conceptual art—a set of rules encoded in software that unfold in real-time. A range of forms including plotter paper drawings, morphing natural landscapes, and stacking geometric compositions demonstrate how this premise invites a series of chance outcomes that are impossible to predetermine. Generative art has recently found a new audience through the prominence and success of NFTs on the immensely popular Art Blocks platform. Art Blocks specializes in on-demand generative content stored immutably on the Ethereum blockchain. Within their marketplace, collectors are able to purchase a work that is randomly generated by an algorithm—every output is different. The resulting piece can vary from a static image to a 3D model or interactive experience. Over the course of this exhibition, many of the artists will be releasing projects on Art Blocks with select iterations on display at the gallery.

The gallery would like to thank StandardVision for their contribution of the Luma Canvas to present Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Saturation Sampler. We are pleased to exhibit this work in tandem with the artist's solo exhibition, Unstable Presence, on view at SFMoMA through March 6, 2022. 

Exhibition dates: October 2–November 15, 2021 
Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday: 11 AM–6 PM 

bitforms gallery
Minnesota Street Project
1275 Minnesota St
San Francisco, CA 94107