Archived Exhibition

Photomosaics™ by Robert Silvers
September 4–30, 2008 (Tues-Fri 10-6; Sat 11-5:30)
Reception: Thursday, September 4, 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

See more work by Robert Silvers

Scott Richards Contemporary Art in San Francisco presents the premiere exhibition of Photomosaics™ by internationally known artist Robert Silvers. Combining groundbreaking digital technology with photography, fine art and a keen imagination, Robert Silvers developed Photomosaic™, his “pointillism for the digital age.” A classic example of the artist’s iconic imagery, each work in the exhibition is composed of over a thousand smaller photographic images that relate in both a pictorial and conceptual sense to the subject. Produced in small numbered editions of various sizes the photomontages are printed on archival photographic paper and mounted on aluminum.

The exhibition at Scott Richards Contemporary Art introduces three new works:
With a nod to Andy Warhol, Marilyn Quad presents the iconic black-and-white image of Marilyn Monroe repeated in four squares. On first glance, the four portraits are identical; on closer scrutiny, each differs slightly from the others, made up of an entirely different set of smaller photographs. The chiaroscuro effect in Girl with a Pearl Earring brings to mind the rich paintings of Renaissance and Baroque Europe. As a Photomosaic™, Vermeer’s famous portrait is composed of multiple images of famous Renaissance paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Louvre in Paris. Fusing images of currency from around the world, the British £20 note is elegantly presented as an object of art, inviting the viewer to reconsider an everyday utilitarian object of exchange.

Silvers invented the unique technology of Photomosaics™ at the age of 26 while studying at the MIT Media Lab. In San Francisco, he is perhaps best known for the large-scale photographic montage he created for the Museum of the African Diaspora. His distinctive medium holds world-wide acclaim through large scale projects for Fortune, IBM, Lucasfilm Ltd., Mastercard International, Disney and Paramount Pictures, as well as covers for LIFE, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, GEO, WIRED and Playboy. Robert Silvers lives near Boston, and is president and CEO of Runaway Technology. He has co-authored and published two books on his work: Photomosaics (1997) and Photomosaic Portraits (2000).