Beyond Boundaries: Csuri Retrospective

Charles A. Csuri

SIGGRAPH 2006 celebrates computer graphics innovator Charles A. Csuri with an art retrospective exhibiting pieces from his first experiments in computer graphics to his works of today. Csuri is recognized as the father of digital art and computer animation by Smithsonian Magazine, and the Museum of Modern Art considers him the leading pioneer of computer animation.

Since creating some of the first digital art in 1963, Csuri has led the digital art and animation industry as co-founder of one of the world's first animation production companies, Cranston/Csuri Productions, and has directed various programs dedicated to the research and development of computer graphics and animation. Csuri's former students and assistants have put their acquired knowledge and skills to practice at Pixar, Industrial Light & Magic, REZN8, Rhythm and Hues, BlueSky Productions, and Walt Disney Productions. Their credits can be found on films such as Star Wars, Terminator 2, Lawnmower Man, Jurassic Park, Casper, Ice Age, and Toy Story.

The exhibition includes some of Csuri's earliest work, “After Cezanne” and “Sinescape,” which he created in the 1960s. A number of large-scale digital images, “Brick Landscape,” “Golden Mask,” and “Venus in the Garden” will also be on display. Csuri's work has evolved with advances in technology, but remains true to his vision. His surrealist and abstract artwork continues to utilize one of his original concepts, the Infinite Art Object, incorporating mathematical techniques to generate the infinite viewpoints of 3D images.