Distinguished Artist Award

The Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art is presented annually to an artist who has created a substantial and important body of work that significantly advances aesthetic content in the field of digital art.

Current Recipient

The 2025 ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Artists Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art is given to Frieder Nake in recognition of his foundational work in algorithmic art and his lasting contributions to computer graphics and digital art. Active since the early 1960s, Nake’s work helped define the field at its inception and continues to influence thinking around aesthetics and computation.

Frieder Nake is one of the founders of digital, or more accurately, algorithmic art, which was known as “computer art” when it emerged in the early 1960s. He produced his first works in 1963 and had his first exhibition of drawings in November 1965 at the Galerie Wendelin Niedlich, Stuttgart, Germany.

Nake’s work was included in what is considered the benchmark computer art exhibition, one of the two defining exhibitions of 1968: “Cybernetic Serendipity” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, curated by Jasia Reichardt. In the same year, his work was included in the exhibition “Tendencies 4” at the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Zagreb.

Max Bense’s Information Aesthetics influenced his early work, an approach to the field of traditional aesthetics based on the mathematical concept of “information,” as developed by Claude E. Shannon and others.

Nake’s (2004/2005) slightly ironic statements may characterize his position and approach, “The drawings were not very exciting. But the »principle« was! ” and “Think the image, don’t make it.”

From 1963 to 1969, he pursued a succession of increasingly complex programs, utilizing technical support that evolved from machine language to Fortran IV, Algol 60, and finally PL/I. His main work phases are identified by collections of programs called “compArt ER56” (1963-65), Walk-through-raster (1966), Matrix multiplication (1967/68), and Generative Aesthetics I (1968/69).

He decided not to continue producing computer art in 1971 when he published a note under the title “There should be no computer art” on Page in the Bulletin of the Computer Arts Society. His reasons were mainly of political origin: He did not see how he could actively contribute to computer art and, at the same time, be a political activist against capitalism. He resumed publishing on computer art in the mid-1980s with the break-down of the radical left in Western Europe.

In 1999, with his project “compArt,” Nake returned to his roots as a theoretician, writer, creator, and teacher (and artist) in the domain of digital art and way beyond. He was the head of “compArt: Center of Excellence in Digital Art” until the end of this vibrant and successful group in 2016.

Frieder Nake has been a full professor of computer science at the University of Bremen, Germany, since 1972. From 2005 to 2019, he also taught at the University of the Arts, Bremen. His teaching and research activities focus on computer graphics, digital media, computer art, the design of interactive systems, computational semiotics, and the general theory of computing. He has published in all the areas mentioned above, with a preference for computer-generated images.

His artworks are in many collections, including the Tate Gallery,  London; Victoria and Albert Museum,  London; Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany; Musée National Des Beaux-Arts Du Québec, Canada; Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia; Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany; and the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois.

Throughout his career, Nake has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing the field through research, education, and collaboration. His influential publications have not only contributed to the academic discourse but have also served as a guiding light for emerging generations of artists and researchers exploring the potential of computational processes in art. As one of the early pioneers in the field, his groundbreaking research and artistic endeavors have inspired countless individuals and laid the foundation for the evolution of computer graphics as a legitimate form of creative expression. In addition to his scholarly achievements, Frieder Nake’s dedication to fostering a vibrant community around computer art and graphics has left an indelible mark. His mentorship and leadership have played a pivotal role in nurturing talent and fostering innovation within the SIGGRAPH community and beyond.

We are honored to add to Frieder Nake’s list of accolades the 2024 ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Artists Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art for his foundational work in algorithmic art and his lasting contributions to computer graphics and digital art.

Criteria

Nomination Procedure

ACM SIGGRAPH members are invited to nominate individuals for the Distinguished Artist Award by contacting the Artist Award Chair by January 31 each year. Nominations for the Distinguished Artist Award are evaluated by the Art Award Committee, and should include as much information about the nominee as possible.

Requirements