In the ’60s, Miriam Schapiro Was Already Using Computer Models to Build Dream-Like Geometries—See The Paintings Here

MIRIAM SCHAPIRO

Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles
Through January 20, 2018

What the Gallery Says: “While teaching painting at the [university of California in 1967], Schapiro met physicist David Nabilof with whom she began to collaborate on computer-aided preliminary sketches for her increasingly hard-edged paintings. Schapiro was able to use the computer to plot every point in her simple geometric drawings and collages in digital space and then manipulate the compositions virtually before ever making a mark on canvas. The process offered infinite variations on her visual concepts, but perhaps more significantly, the use of the computer allowed her to see space in a new way.”

Why It’s Worth a Look: Organized with the help of Eric Firestone Gallery and the estate of the well-known feminist artist (who passed in 2015), Honor Fraser’s exhibition shows an artist who was already in the late-’60s unafraid to try out experimental ways of doing things—with the bold, wheeling Keyhole (1971) being a particular standout.

What It Looks Like:

Installation view of Miriam Schapiro at Honor Fraser. image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Miriam Schapiro, Keyhole (1971). Image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Miriam Schapiro, Byzantium (1967). Image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Miriam Schapiro, Canyon (1967). Image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Miriam Schapiro, Borrega Take (1967). Image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Miriam Schapiro, Thunderbird (1970). Image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Miriam Schapiro, Computer Series (1969). Image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Miriam Schapiro, Mylar Series (Computer Series) (1971). Image courtesy Honor Fraser.

Installation view of Miriam Schapiro at Honor Fraser. image courtesy Honor Fraser.