Lillian Schwartz’s “Pixillation” at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

From January 16 to May 5, 2024, Lillian Schwartz’s “Pixillation” will be shown at AMFA’s new media gallery

Source: Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts · Image: Lillian Schwartz (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1927 – ), Still from Pixillation, 1970, motion picture, 4 mins. From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Trained in painting, drawing, and sculpture, Lillian Schwartz (b. 1927, Cincinnati, Ohio) began creating digital art in the late 1960s after joining AT&T Bell Laboratories as one of its first resident artists. At Bell Labs, engineers, scientists, and artists collaborated on experiments with computer-generated music and visuals. To create “Pixillation”, Schwartz wrote lines of code to create a black and white texture, which she overlaid with hand-colored animation. The artist edited the film so the color of the digital and analog shapes contrast and match in varying frames, creating a shifting effect. The soundtrack, written and performed by Gershon Kingsley on a Moog synthesizer, increases in tempo as the film cuts from digital to analog imagery at a faster pace, building a sense of urgency. The saturated colors, complex rhythm, and geometric shapes of “Pixillation”, Schwartz’s film featuring digitally produced images, went on to define the look and feel of 1970s computer art.

AMFA’s new media gallery is a space that has the potential to display audio-visual works designed for projectors, television monitors, speakers, and even interactive digital platforms, allowing AMFA’s programming to reflect the myriad ways artists work in the 21st century. The dedicated new media gallery is designed to present artworks created with technologies such as video, computer animation, and interactive digital art. These works are shown on a continuous loop and guests are invited to enter and exit the gallery as they wish.

About the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts: Founded in 1937, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is the largest cultural institution of its kind in the state, offering a unique blend of visual and performing arts experiences. AMFA is committed to featuring diverse media and artistic perspectives within its permanent collection of 14,000 works of art as well as through rotating temporary exhibitions. AMFA’s international collection spans eight centuries, with strengths in works on paper and contemporary craft, and includes notable holdings by artists from Arkansas, the South, and across the United States and Europe. With a vibrant mix of ideas, cultures, people, and places, AMFA extends this commitment to diversity through its dynamic children’s theatre and performing arts program, the innovative Windgate Art School, and communityfocused educational programs for all ages. Located in Little Rock’s oldest urban green space, MacArthur Park, AMFA’s landmark building and grounds are designed by Studio Gang and SCAPE, in collaboration with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects.