New Work · Mark Napier

bitforms gallery is pleased to announce a third solo exhibition with Mark Napier. This exhibit marks the New York debut of his new software art and print work. One of the select few artists whose Internet art has been collected and commissioned by prominent art institutions, Mark Napier is known for creating work that challenges traditional rules of ownership, authority, and permanence. Over the past decade he has developed custom software as an art medium, and this exhibition features virtual objects that hover between the material and immaterial. "Increasingly we live and navigate in a world composed of energy: electrical, magnetic and light," says Napier. "Digital media infuse our lives as never before. In this media environment, power is no longer associated with physical objects, but with the persistence of ideas in the collective consciousness of the media." The exhibition features generative software installations including "Smoke," where the Empire State Building softens and melts, writhing almost organically, and a live screen-based installation animating human flesh over the building's structure. Print works in the "Cyclops" series explore layered cubist perspectives. Napier's pioneering career includes a commission for the Guggenheim Museum's permanent collection (net.flag, 2001).