Sonya Rapoport: Force Fields

1 April - 13 May 2023

Casemore Gallery presents an exhibition of works on paper by Sonya Rapoport (1923- 2015), recognized asa pioneer of computer art. The exhibition explores the evolution of her engagement with the computer, from her earliest drawings on computer printout paper in the late 1970s, through her computer-mediated “audience participation performances” in the 1980s.

  • 'As well as making tracings of my personal vocabulary icons, I was developing themes and stories with words and meaningful...

    "As well as making tracings of my personal vocabulary icons, I was developing themes and stories with words and meaningful rubber stampings."- Sonya Rapoport (Primary Source #3) (1976)


  • Drawn to the futuristic aesthetic of sprocket holes, grid lines, and carbon-black, dot-matrix printed code, she drew into the existing patterns with graphite, colored pencil, and ink stamps, and stitched the construction together with colorful yarn to create drawings such as “Right-On”.

  • At a time when computers were primarily used for business, science, and military applications, Rapoport was gathering and processing data...

    At a time when computers were primarily used for business, science, and military applications, Rapoport was gathering and processing data about what she called “soft material,” including her biorhythms, her shoe collection, her home, and the objects on her dresser, an approach she characterized as a feminist 

    use of new technology.

    • Sonya Rapoport Hovenweep V, VI, and VII, 1976 Pencil, colored pencil, ink, stamp and thread on found continuous-feed computer paper Three folios: 14.875 x 132 inches each

      Sonya Rapoport

      Hovenweep V, VI, and VII, 1976

      Pencil, colored pencil, ink, stamp and thread on found continuous-feed computer paper

      Three folios: 14.875 x 132 inches each
      Inquire
    • Sonya Rapoport A 20th Century Portrait (Unknown), 1979 Plotter print, Prismacolor and pencil on vellum 31 x 40 inches

      Sonya Rapoport

      A 20th Century Portrait (Unknown), 1979

      Plotter print, Prismacolor and pencil on vellum

      31 x 40 inches
      Inquire
    • Sonya Rapoport Objects on My Dresser, Isomorphics Series: Surface, 1981 Prismacolor, pencil, ink, stamp, acetate collage, and photocopy on paper 24 x 202 inches

      Sonya Rapoport

      Objects on My Dresser, Isomorphics Series: Surface, 1981

      Prismacolor, pencil, ink, stamp, acetate collage, and photocopy on paper

      24 x 202 inches
      Inquire
  • Shoe-Field, an interactive installation, 1986
    Shoe-Field, an interactive installation, 1986

    Shoe-Field, an interactive installation, 1986

    “Shoe-Field” (1982-1989) began with a performance at a home computer store in Berkeley, where participants were asked how they felt about their shoes. Their answers were analyzed by a computer and given a printed “Shoe-Psyche Plot” that represented their feelings as an electromagnetic force field printed in ASCII characters.