Jean-Pierre Hébert (1939 – March 28, 2021) was an American artist of French origin. He specialized in

algorithmic art Algorithmic art or algorithm art is art, mostly visual art, in which the design is generated by an algorithm. Algorithmic artists are sometimes called ''algorists''. Overview Algorithmic art, also known as computer-generated art, is a subset o ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

s, and mixed media. He co-founded the

Algorists Algorithmic art or algorithm art is art, mostly visual art, in which the design is generated by an algorithm. Algorithmic artists are sometimes called ''algorists''. Overview Algorithmic art, also known as computer-generated art, is a subset ...

in 1995 with

Roman Verostko Roman Verostko (born September 12, 1929) is an American artist and educator who creates code-generated imagery, known as algorithmic art. Verostko developed his own software for generating original art based on form ideas he had developed as an ...

. From 2003 until his death, he held an

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

position at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Hébert was born in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, France, and grew up in Vence. He worked for many years in the field of computer science even as he pursued his art. He eventually settled in Santa Barbara, California. He was a pioneer in the field of computer art from the mid-1970s on, merging traditional art media and techniques, personal software, plotters, and custom built devices to create an original body of work. He cited the American artist Anni Albers as an early inspiration and noted that he first read about her work in an IBM brochure. He was the recipient of Pollock-Krasner Foundation and David Bermant Foundation awards. In 2012, he received the ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art.List of ACM SIGGRAPH Awards
/ref> Hébert produced works on paper, including ink and pencil drawings, paintings, etchings and dry points from polymer and copper plates, and digital prints. He also created sand, water and sound installations, algorithmic visual music, works for wall displays, physics based algorithmic pieces, and more. His work was exhibited extensively and was frequently juried in the

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference on computer graphics (CG) organized by the ACM SIGGRAPH, starting in 1974. The main conference is held in North America; SIGGRAPH Asia ...

Art Gallery. Several museums and institutional collections hold his works, including the digital art collections of the

Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art The Block Museum of Art is a free public art museum located on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The Block Museum was established in 1980 when Chicago art collectors Mary (daughter of Albert Lasker) and Leigh B. Block (f ...

(Northwestern University, Chicago) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London). The Art Vault of the Thoma Foundation in Santa Fe, New Mexico featured one of his works, "Circle of Squares" (1992) in its 2021 exhibition entitled, "Saint Somebody: Technologies of the Divine." In 2003, he became the artist in residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He assumed this role at the invitation of the KITP's then-director and Nobel-prize-winning physicist, David Gross. At the KITP he organized several

group shows. These shows included Hans Dehlinger, Channa Horwitz,

(in 2006), Jean-François Colonna, Helaman Ferguson, Casey Reas (in 2008), and David Em, Paul Hertz, Robert Lang (artist), Robert Lang (in 2009) (in 2011). He died on March 28, 2021, at the age of 81.

References

Sources

* Lieser, Wolf (2009). ''Digital Art'': H. F. Ullmann Germany. . * Faure-Walker, James (2006). ''Painting the Digital River'': Prentice Hall. . * Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum (2008). ''Drawing With the Mind'', Catalog. . * Anne Morgan Spalter, Spalter, Anne Morgan (1999). ''The Computer in the Visual Arts'': Addison Wesley. . * Varichon, Anne & Rocella, Carlo (2006). ''Etre Sable'': Editions du Seuil. . * Wands, Bruce (2006). ''Art of the Digital Age'', London: Thames & Hudson. .

External links

Jean-Pierre Hébert's personal site
* * * * *
Siggraph Art Gallery search for Hébert's references.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hebert, Jean-Pierre 1939 births 2021 deaths American digital artists American people of French descent French emigrants to the United States University of California, Santa Barbara faculty People from Calais