First Algorithmic Brush Painting with Color

Art

Verostko Center for the Arts

Name/Title

First Algorithmic Brush Painting with Color

Entry/Object ID

2024.1.26

Description

Annotated the back: “first algorithmic brush painting with color,” the technical notes “PC / DMP52 HODOS / Brushes Adapted to Plotter” and “PBA – DO2,” and the date, 11-7-88.

Collection

Roman Verostko and Alice Wagstaff Legacy Collections

Made/Created

Artist

Roman Verostko

Date made

1988

General Notes

Note

Within a decade of learning computer programming (at the Control Data Institute, Minneapolis, and MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies, Cambridge), Verostko was inspired to convert his studio into an “electronic scriptorium” with computers and drawing machines called pen plotters. Verostko’s algorithms (printed pages of which are displayed in the case nearby) guided the mechanically operated pens and brushes to create unique drawings. The resulting forms encompass the artist’s many interests – from the color theory of Albers and the subconscious imagery of psychological “ink blot” tests to the expressibe brushstrokes of Chinese calligraphy. Here, as in the art he had made before, the forms achieve a balance stability and improvisation.

Created By

jeffery.martin@stvincent.edu

Create Date

February 19, 2026

Updated By

jeffery.martin@stvincent.edu

Update Date

February 19, 2026