Geometries and Algorithms; Painting within mathematics.
At the crossroads of Art, Science and Technology. A bridge between Western and Eastern cultures.
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Active in his native Romania until 1980, when he emigrated to the United States, the artist since then has been living and |
Active in his native Romania until 1980, when he emigrated to the United States, the artist since then has been living and working in New York City.
Art based on digital principles and technologies has been in the making since the sixties and seventies. In those years, experimenting with mathematically based concepts, a handful of pioneers began working with the then emerging technologies – computers and plotters.
As far as visual art is concerned, this happened first in Germany (M. Bense, R. Gunzenhäuser, M. Mohr, G. Nees, F. Nake, etc.), then France (G. Charbonnier, A. Moles, V. Molnar, H. Huitric, M. Philippot, L&L.B Kempf, etc.), and then Austria (H. W. Franke), soon followed (1968--1970) by experiments in Canada(J. Palumbo), Japan (Computer Technique Group), Sweeden (S. Johannesson), Switzerland (G. Honegger), the USA (Jean-Pierre Hébert, K. Knowlton, R. Verostko, among others) and behind the Iron Curtain in Romania (R. Cotosman, S. Epuré, M. Nadin and a few others), Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia.
Initially trained in electronics, he switched to painting in the 1960s. Beginning in 1968, he pioneered the use of science, algorithms and geometry in art. At that time, he was already a member of the Alliance of the Romanian Fine Artists. In 1986 he incorporated the Macintosh computer and related technologies into his practice.
In 1973, at the Sigma 9 Contact II in Bordeaux France, his work was presented alongside some of the most influential artists and animators in the field of computer art, such as Georges Charbonnier, Abraham Moles, Herbert Franke, Herve Huitric, Peter Kreiss, Kenneth Knowlton, Vera Molnar, Manfred Mohr, and Georg Nees.
Epuré put cybernetics, as a creative engine, at the core of his art and by the end of 1967 conceived the life-long project "Intrinsic Art" which developed into three main strands [according to the nature of the respective algorithms], defined as S-Bands ( Sherban's Bands), Meta-Phorms (Meta+Metaphor+Forms) and sculptures (binary and protruded);
The S-Band (Sherban's Band, 1968-present) 
is an algorithmic art generator in which, software, hardware, and obtained art are simultaneous; the algorithm is its vey structure. Their format is interchangeable, analogue to and from digital. A cybernetical relationship develops during the Band's manipulation. Many call it a “paper art computer”. The scope of the band is not to imitate nature, as origami does, but to produce non-subjective genuine art forms. S-Bands focus mostly on environmental esthetics.
Among other venues, S-Bands have been exhibited at:
7th Youth Biennials of Paris, 1971 (work | archive) and 8th Youth Biennials of Paris, 1973, ( work | archive), the 25th Edinburgh Festival, 1971 (work), the Richard Demarco Gallery (digital archive), “S-Bands” (exhibition | archive) - the New York Digital Salon, 2009.
The Meta-Phorm (Meta+Metaphor+Form, 1969-presnt) 
is intended to be the the visual appearance/artistic representation of an mathematical creative proposition by introducing geometrical forms into a game relationship. The algorithms are written directly in mathematical expressions and are, therefore, machine ready but independent. Meta-Phormes focus mostly on the existential discourse.
Meta-Phorms have been exhibited in many venues, both Europe and the States and especially with the New York Digital Salon and Siggraph. Here are some of the most important:
the 9th Sigma Festival in Bordeaux, France-1973, the Fine Art Competition, Cyprus, (Award)-1973, The New Gallery, Bucharest, Romania-1974, the Computer Museum, Boston, Massachusetts, 1988, the 3rd. 4th. 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th New York Digital Salon, from 1995 to 2001, Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain - 1998, Siggraph32 (link1), 2005 and Siggraph33 (link1), 2006 and the "Imaging by Numbers. A historical view of the Computer Print", the Mary & Leigh Block Museum, 2007.
A comprehensive presentation of "Intrinsic Art" is made in an artist book (five hundred pages of full color images and text) and two movies [60 and 90 minutes], all finalized in 2012.
Work's formats: unique inkjet prints on canvas, interactive presentations, projections, protruded sculptures.
In 1978, after an in-depth reading of Paul Klee's collected essays on art (La Pensée Créatrice and Histoire Naturelle Infinie), he came to regard Klee as one of his mentors. Klee's cosmo-genetic vision represents a unique vision in exploring universal laws and using science as a creative tool for art.
For more information, consult "work by chronology" and "resumé" on the navigation bar.
Awards: The Ionel Jianou Award, Davis, CA 1994, Fine Art Competition Platres, Cyprus 1973, Youth Award of the Union of the Romanian Fine Artists, Bucharest, Romania 1971.
Epuré has written extensively to promote art based on mathematics, science and cybernetics. Please visit the "writings/statements" and "press" sections on the navigation bar.
Collections: the Mary & Leigh Block Museum, Evanston, Ill., the Victoria and Albert Museum--The Patric Prince Collection of Digital Art, Londo, the Richard Demarco Digital Archive, the Museum of Modern Art, MOMA, New York and the National Gallery, Bucharest, Romania.
"Dear Sherban,
Thanks for drawing my attention to your very fine work. Your S Bands are very impressive and your first generation should be celebrated as an important pioneer contribution to 20th Century algorist work. I hope you will allow me to post an example and link on my algorist pages....With my best regards, Roman Verostko". November 12, 2007.
“Before 1985 ... In the absence of computers, Sherban Epuré conceived his work in the spirit of computation and not as an implementation through programs. His algorithms are mental algorithms,... by now he gained access to computation, but his "output" is art and not medium dependent products." — Mihai Nadin, 2006.
..." What I admire highly, is your ability to invent innovative canons of form. Your handling of the circle segment not only as syntactic basic element, but your using it as the esthetic skeleton for designing even the human gestalt, this is amazing... So you have found yourself your personal language and writing of form, what is a rare event, I think. The collection of pages, labeled by "Research of primitives as an intersection of a flux of stimuli and a curve with feedback", this was and is my favorite"...Prof. Dr. Georg Nees, Erlangen, Germany, 1996
"The cybernetic three-dimensional paper works by Sherban Epuré will form themselves into a little room for the Exhibition—an environment enlivened by the speciallly composed electronic music of Aurel Stroe. Epuré is that rare bird, the mathematician and the poet in one". — Richard Demarco, catalogue for the 25th Edinburgh International Jubilee Festival, 1971.