From Fine Art to Generative Art
At age 30, Csuri became a full professor of fine art at The Ohio State University and simultaneously held solo exhibitions in New York. While there, he was part of the avant-garde scene of artists and writers at the Old Cedar Tavern in Greenwich Village.
Chuck would be part of the passionate and often heated exchanges of ideas about art. Notable abstract expressionists of the time he interacted with included Pollock, Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Rauschenberg. George Segal, a mentor, and Roy Lichtenstein, a pop artist and the best man at Csuri’s wedding, were prominent artists in his community.
For a decade, Csuri conjectured with his friend in the engineering department about the future possibilities of creating computer art. “We reached a state where we compared the computer to a philosopher, a theorist, an intellectual.” From there, it was only one step to regard the machine as a tool of creation, a step taken in 1964 when he discovered a computer raster portrait of a woman.
Csuri explored technology through fine art in his paintings. Examples of line transformation are evident in “The Bearded Man with Parrot”, 1964, and “Contemplation”, 1964. To create these works he employed techniques like warping and morphing, setting the stage for the emergence of 2D and 3D generative computer
“Charles Csuri at Ohio State University may be the nearest thing, in this new art form, to an Old Master.”
Artwork in the collection of Walter P Crysler
Contemplation, 1964
The Csuri and Lichtensteins in the art studio in the 50s.
Early Period: 1963 - 1988
Procedural Drawings 1963/65
Csuri envisioned his future. Because there was no software at that time, he experimented by creating procedural drawings. His systematic drawings, made one dot at a time, simulated how he envisioned a computer might render an image foreshadowing pixels. He created scenes in these works by using descriptive sentences, such as “She’s Watching Superman” and “Her grandchildren are humming the song ‘We Shall Overcome.’” Notably, Csuri also created a portrait of Douglas Engelbart, colleague and inventor of the computer mouse. Below is a small sampling of pictures, more are available upon request.
She’s Watching Superman, 1963/64
Ink on heavyweight paper.
Dimensions: 101.14 x 147.32 cm (41 x 58 in)
Shoemaker, 1965
Ink on heavy weight paper
Dimensions: 106.68 x 106.68 cm ( 42 x 42 in.)
Shoemaker (detailed closeup), 1965
Ink on heavy-weight paper
Dimensions: 106.68 x 106.68 (42x42 in)
The Man in the Mirror, 1965
Ink on heavy weight paper
Dimensions: 101.14 x 147.32 cm ( 41 x 58 in.)
Watching TV, 1965
Heavy weight paper
Dimensions: 106.68 x 106.68
Human Hand, 1965
Blueprint
Dimensions: 106.68 x 121.92 cm ( 42 x 48 in.)
Analogue Computer Drawing, 1963/64 - “After the Artist Series”
From 1963 to 1964, Csuri created his first analog computer works by reimagining classical pieces created by old masters he admired. Through his analog process, Csuri transformed traditional art using scientific tools. This resulted in a new artistic style marked by unpredictability and controlled chaos. By simplifying and manipulating these works, he explored the tension between the position, rotation, and scale of the subjects.
“This technology allowed me to systematically alter the original geometry of my drawing. One end of the pantograph device traced my drawing and the other end was simultaneously making transformations. I was intrigued [by] the idea of using devices and strategies to create art. I questioned the notion there had to be a tactile kinesthetic process to create a drawing or painting.”
After Klee, 1963
Ink on heavy weight paper ( Analogue Computer)
Dimensions: 66 x 51 cm ( 26 x 20 in.)
After Albrecht Dürer, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper (Analogue computer)
Dimensions: 61 x 81 cm (24 x 32 in.)
After Albrecht Durer’s Study of Gentile Bellini, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper (Analogue Computer)
Dimensions: 61 x 51 cm (26 x 20 in.)
After Cézanne, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper ( Analogue computer)
Dimensions: 64 x 81 cm (25 x 32.)
After Mondrian, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper (Analogue computer)
Dimensions: 66 x 51 cm (26 x 20 in.)
After Jean-Auguste Ingres, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper (Analogue Computer)
Dimensions: 66 x 51 cm (26 x 20 in.)
After Picasso, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper ( analogue Computer)
Dimensions: 66 x 51 cm ( 26 x 20 in.)
After Goya, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper (Analogue Computer)
Dimensions: 61 x 81 cm (24 x 32 in.)
After André Derain, 1964
Ink on heavy weight paper (Analogue Computer)
Dimensions: 26 x 20 inches
Plotters 1965 - 1968
In 1966, Csuri crossed university departments finding programmer James Shaffer to help realize his artistic vision. He then learned the programming language Fortran. With only one computer at the university in the early 60s, and no display devices, plotter prints were the only form of artistic, computer visualization. Csuri’s creative process was changed forever.
“When I did a traditional painting, I was thinking in terms of start, beginning, and some endpoint - a painting, a drawing. Today I don’t have the expectation in the same way. I explore the computer as a creative partner and a search engine for art. I am hoping that when I set up that environment, there will be something I cannot think of.”
Additional Plotters Available
Creating Computer Art in 1966
This is historic footage of Charles Csuri creating computer art in 1966 with an IBM 7084 mainframe computer and drum plotter. During this period there were no computer display devices or keyboards. A plotter print was the only form of artistic visualization.
Dignified Lady, 1964 (Csuri’s first plotter)
Ink on paper ( IBM 7094 and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 8 x 10 cm ( 3.25 x 4 in.)
Bearded Man, 1967
Ink on paper ( IBM 7094 and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 78.74 x 83.82 cm ( 31 x 34 in.)
Bspline Men, 1967
Ink on paper ( IBM 7094 and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 97.79 x 157.48 cm ( 38.5 x 62 in.)
Bearded Men Plotter, 1967 SOLD
Ink on paper ( IBM and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 76.2 x 83.82 cm ( 30 x 33 in.)
Birds in the Hat, 1967 SOLD
Ink on paper ( IBM 7094 and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 38 x 155 cm (15 x 61 in.)
Landscape, 1967
Ink on paper ( IBM 7094 and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 78.74 x 53.34 cm ( 31 x 21 in.)
Old Man Transformation, 1966
Ink on paper (IBM and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 78.74 x 165.1 cm ( 31 x65 in.)
Red Sinewave, 1970
Ink on paper ( IBM 7094 and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 68.58 x 83.82 cm ( 27 x 33.5 in.)
Kings and Queen, 1967
Ink on paper ( IBM 7094 and Cal Comp drum plotter)
Dimensions: 78.74 x 101.6 cm ( 31 x 40 in.)
Works on Plexi
Csuri continued to push the envelope to develop art objects that allowed for scale and stability. These early silkscreen prints on Plexiglass were reflective of the materials used during the pop art movement.
Bearded Man, 1967
Machine Carving on white plexiglass
Dimensions: 31.75 x 38.1 cm ( 12.5 x 15 in.)
Hummingbird in A Circle, 1967 (5/5)
Silkscreen on white plexiglass
Dimensions: 60.96 x 60.96 cm ( 24x 24 in.)
Random War, 1967 currently NFS
Silkscreen on white plexiglass
Dimensions: 104.14 x 243.84 cm ( 41 x 96 in.)