Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 15

Joseph Nechvatal
Post Conceptual Digital Artist Oil Painting Screenprint Diptych Joseph Nechvatal

1985

$12,500
£9,598.80
€11,011.33
CA$17,563.97
A$19,670.53
CHF 10,263.76
MX$240,267.12
NOK 130,584.93
SEK 123,091.94
DKK 82,176.24

About the Item

Joseph Nechvatal The Oedipal God of Oil Paint and Destruction, Diptych Oil and screenprint on two canvases, 1985, both signed 'Joseph Nechvatal', titled and dated on the reverse, with label from Brooke Alexander, NY. Joseph James Nechvatal (born 15 January 1951) is a post-conceptual digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses. Joseph Nechvatal was born in Chicago. He studied fine art and philosophy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Cornell University and Columbia University, where he studied with Arthur Danto while serving as the archivist to the minimalist composer La Monte Young. From 1979, he exhibited his work in New York City, primarily at Galerie Richard, Brooke Alexander Gallery and Universal Concepts Unlimited. He has also solo exhibited in Berlin, Paris, Chicago, Cologne, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Aalst, Belgium, Youngstown, Senouillac, Lund, Toulouse, Turin, Arles and Munich. His work in the early 1980s chiefly consisted of post minimalist gray graphite drawings that were often photo mechanically enlarged. During that period he was associated with the artist group Colab and helped establish the non-profit cultural space ABC No Rio. In 1983 he co-founded the avant-garde electronic art music audio project Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine. In 1984, Nechvatal began work on an opera called XS: The Opera Opus (1984-6) with the no wave musical composer Rhys Chatham. He was included in the MoMA PS1 show Synesthetcis in 1985 along with Peter Halley, Richard Hambleton, Komar and Melamid, Richard Prince, Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero and David Wojnarowicz. He began using computers to make "paintings" in 1986 and later, in his signature work, began to employ computer viruses. These "collaborations" with viral systems positioned his work as an early contribution to what is increasingly referred to as a post-human aesthetic. From 1991–1993 he was artist-in-residence at the Louis Pasteur Atelier in Arbois, France and at the Saline Royale/Ledoux Foundation's computer lab.There he worked on The Computer Virus Project, which was an artistic experiment with computer viruses and computer animation. He exhibited at Documenta 8 in 1987. In 1999 Nechvatal obtained his Ph.D. in the philosophy of art and new technology concerning immersive virtual reality at Roy Ascott's Centre for Advanced Inquiry in the Interactive Arts (CAiiA), University of Wales College, Newport, UK (now the Planetary Collegium at the University of Plymouth). There he developed his concept of viractualism, a conceptual art idea that strives "to create an interface between the biological and the technological." According to Nechvatal, this is a new topological space. In 2002 he extended his experimentation into viral artificial life through a collaboration with the programmer Stephane Sikora of music2eye in a work called the Computer Virus Project II, inspired by the a-life work of John Horton Conway (particularly Conway's Game of Life), by the general cellular automata work of John von Neumann, by the genetic programming algorithms of John Koza and the auto-destructive art of Gustav Metzger. In 2005 he exhibited Computer Virus Project II works (digital paintings, digital prints, a digital audio installation and two live electronic virus-attack art installations) in a solo show called cOntaminatiOns at Château de Linardié in Senouillac, France. In 2006 Nechvatal received a retrospective exhibition entitled Contaminations at the Butler Institute of American Art's Beecher Center for Arts and Technology. In 2013, Nechvatal showed work in Noise, an official collateral show of the 55th Venice Biennale of Art, that was based on his book Immersion Into Noise. From 1999 to 2013, Nechvatal taught art theories of immersive virtual reality and the viractual at the School of Visual Arts in New York City (SVA). Joe Lewis wrote: in the artist/theorist tradition of Robert Smithson, Joseph Nechvatal is a pioneer in the field of digital image making who challenges our perceptions of nature by altering conventional notions of space and time, gender, and self. ... Nechvatal successfully plunged into the depths where art, technology and theory meet. Colab Redux at Brooke Alexander: Seminal artist group Colab (short for Collaborative Project) is getting an abbreviated 30-year anniversary look at Brooke Alexander Editions. Formed in 1978 and active for about 10 years, Colab was distinguished for its democratically run, open membership that included, among others, Jenny Holzer, G. H. Hovagimyan, Joseph Nechvatal, Tom Otterness, Judy Rifka, and Robin Winters.Colab has continued to inspire numerous incarnations of organized artists communities, including ABC No Rio. Aesthetically, Colab focused on new media instead of traditional art objects, emphasizing TV production, video editing, film, and performance. Colab’s landmark Times Square exhibition in 1980 was a “groundswell of popularly accessible socially themed artworks held in an empty building that has housed an erotic massage parlor. Critics called it ‘punk art’—‘three cord art anyone can play.’” His computer-robotic assisted paintings and computer animations are shown regularly in galleries and museums throughout the world. From 1991-3 he worked as artist-in-resident at the Louis Pasteur Atelier and the Saline Royale / Ledoux Foundation's computer lab in Arbois, France on 'The Computer Virus Project': an experiment with computer viruses as a creative stratagem. He has exhibited his work widely in Europe and the United States, both in private and public venues. Awards 2003 New York Foundation for the Arts: Computer Arts 1996-98 Research Fellowship,University of Wales ,CAiiA, Great-Britain 1995 Artist-in Residence, Cite des Art Internationale, Paris 1992 New York, NY Foundation for the Arts, Painting 1992-93 Artist-in-Resident, Fondation Claude-Nicolas Ledoux's computer lab in Arc-et-Senans 1991-93 Artist-in-Residence, Arbois, France 1989 Jackson Pollock- Lee Krasner Foundation Award 1988 New York, NY Foundation for the Arts, Painting 1986 National Endowment for the Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts 1985 National Endowment for the Arts, Painting National Endowment for the Arts, Opera and Musical Theater Massachusetts Council of the Arts, Performance Public Collections The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA The National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, L.A., USA The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, USA Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel The Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, USA The Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA The New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM, USA The Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR, USA The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, USA The Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA Musée de Dôle, Dôle, France Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA The Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK, USA Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA The Schyl Foundation, Malmo Konsthall, Sweden The South Dakota Museum of Art, Brookings, SD, USA The Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA The University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY, USA The Municipal Museum of Art, Györ, Hungary The Robert Shiffler Foundation, Greenville OH, USA The Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD, USA The Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, USA Saline Royale, Arc-et-Senans, France Musée Léon Dierx, La Réunion, France Shoes Or No Shoes Museum, Oudenaarde, Belgium
  • Creator:
    Joseph Nechvatal (1951)
  • Creation Year:
    1985
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 64 in (162.56 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    good. minor wear. frame has wear.
  • Gallery Location:
    Surfside, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38214443752

More From This Seller

View All
Large California Modernist Abstract Laddie John Dill Abstract Oil Painting Art
By Laddie John Dill
Located in Surfside, FL
Laddie John Dill (American, b. 1943) Untitled Oil painting on canvas mounted on panel Hand signed Laddie Dill (verso) 36 x 72 inches. (with frame 37 X 73) Laddie John Dill was born ...
Category

1980s Post-Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

MIchael Knigin Abstract Pop Art Surrealism Acrylic Painting
By Michael Knigin
Located in Surfside, FL
Michael Jay Knigin (American, 1942 – 2011) Untitled (abstract) Mixed media painting on paper, includes acrylic, watercolor and gouache Estate stamp on the ...
Category

20th Century Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache

German American Neo Abstract Expressionist Contemporary Oil Painting Mixed Media
By Bernd Haussmann
Located in Surfside, FL
Berndt Haussmann (German / American, b. 1957) Das Lied von der Erde, mixed media painting on canvas signed, titled and numbered on verso unframed 32 1/4 x 48 inches. BERND HAUSSMAN...
Category

Early 2000s Neo-Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Oil

Contact Painting Twins Abstract Expressionist Diptych OIl Painting Rainer Gross
By Rainer Gross
Located in Surfside, FL
Rainer Gross (American, b. 1957) "Neal Twins" (in two parts)," 2000, Oil diptych painting on panel, signed, titled and dated verso, panel (unframed/each): 10.25"h x 9"w, overall 10...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Oil

Modernist American Abstract Expressionist Pop Art Painting on Canvas James Yohe
By James Yohe
Located in Surfside, FL
James Yohe A Quiet Situation-Move Acrylic on canvas, 1980, Hand signed 'Yohe', titled and dated on the reverse, with label from Alexander Milliken Gallery NY. 18 1/2 x 20 1/2 in., t...
Category

1980s Post-Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

UNTITLED FIGURES (LINES AND SHAPES AGAINST TEXTURAL BACKGROUND)
By Shoshana Heimann
Located in Surfside, FL
As fate would have it, sculptor, painter and printmaker Shoshana Heimann (1923-2009) did not live to see her retrospective installed at both the Hecht Museum at the University of Hai...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Abstract Paintings

Materials

Wood, Mixed Media, Oil

You May Also Like

You Are Always on my Mind (Diptych), Painting, Acrylic on Paper
By Christel Haag
Located in Yardley, PA
"You Are Always on my Mind (Diptych)" is a lively, colorful diptych on paper. It is painted gesturally and dynamically and is part of abstrac...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

On a Monday Morning (Diptych), Painting, Acrylic on Paper
By Christel Haag
Located in Yardley, PA
"On a Monday Morning (Diptych)" is a diptych on paper. It is a mixture of gestural-dynamic painting and monotype. The choice of colors is reduced and limited to ocher, black, white a...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

It is not what it Seems (Diptych), Painting, Acrylic on Paper
By Christel Haag
Located in Yardley, PA
"It is not what it Seems (Diptych)" is an abstract and expressive diptych on paper. It is painted gesturally and dynamically and is part of modern expressioni...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

DICHOTOMY, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Jim Plesh
Located in Yardley, PA
Within the abstract genre Plesh uses media and surface literally to explore, creating visuals which captivate the viewer with intrigue, drawing them in. . His works permit, in fact e...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Dueling Franz - Diptych (Two Paintings), Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Robert Musser
Located in Yardley, PA
I have recently been studying the artist Franz Kline and produced this art to get closer to his process. Two black and white paintings can hang separate or together. :: Painting :: A...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Vintage Abstract Diptych -- Entrance One Collage
By James Coughlin
Located in Soquel, CA
An abstract diptych by James Caughlin (American, 1926-1979). Signed lower right. Artist's studio label on verso. Displayed in a white mat with two win...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper