REBECCA ALLEN

From the mid 1970’s, Allen was a rare female artist working in the early stages of computer art and digital technology. Her pioneering artwork, which spans five decades and utilizes various forms of digital media, explores ideas around physicality and virtuality, nature and illusion, the body and the mind, and what it means to be human as technology redefines our sense of reality and identity.

With degrees from Rhode Island School of Design and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rebecca moves fluidly between artist studio and research lab, using her research to inform her art. Though widely recognized now as a contemporary visual arts medium, Allen was one of the first artists to utilize the computer as an artistic tool to make art involving human motion simulation, AI and Artificial Life algorithms and other generative techniques.

Allen’s work is exhibited internationally and is part of permanent collections including, Whitney Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (NY), Centre Georges Pompidou and Zabludowicz Collections. Previous collaborators include artists such as Kraftwerk, Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Peter Gabriel, Carter Burwell, Twyla Tharp, and Nam June Paik.

Text courtesy the artist