Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 5: Artist-Programmer Era (1970s)
1971
Howard Wise Gallery Closes

The gallery, which had served as a, if not the, key supporter of technology and art-based practices, closed in 1971 after eleven years in operation. The gallery hosted the first exhibition of computer art in the United States and was critical to the development of the movement. Originally opened in Cleveland (1957-1961), the gallery run by the kinetic, light and video art lover, Howard Earl Wise, was instrumental in bridging the world of lumino-kinetic art to digital art.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
computer art, digital art, generative art, kinetic art, Lumino-Kinetic Art, video art
Filed under
- Ideas
- digital art, generative art, light art, Lumino-Kinetic Art, Technology and Art, video art
- Technologies
- computer art, kinetic art
- People
- Earl, Howard Wise
- Organisations
- Howard Wise Gallery
- Places
- Cleveland, United States
Related moments
Echoes across time
- 1922 · Thomas Wilfred Begins His Lumia Public Performances
- 1957 · Voyage II, Frank Malina
- 1930 · Light Prop for an Electric Stage by László Moholy-Nagy
Le Random editorials
- A. Michael Noll on When It All Started, A. Michael Noll, March 25, 2025
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt I (1960s) with Dr A Michael Noll — listen with transcript on Le Random (07 Sep 2023, 60 min). Transcript mentions Howard Wise. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 5—Artist-Programmer Era (1970s) with Joan Truckenbrod, Hans Dehlinger & Anika Meier — listen with transcript on Le Random (14 Jan 2024, 65 min). Chapter 5’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify