This week Dean Alan Balfour and the College of Architecture at Georgia Tech reopened the 60-year-old Stubbins Studio Gallery with the opening of “Digital Paintings,” an exhibition of work by artist and associate professor Harris Dimitropoulos. 

The event continues Tech Arts, a university-wide initiative to grow Georgia Tech’s culture of creativity and innovation by showcasing scientific research at the nexus of technology and the arts. The exhibition will be open weekdays through December 16, 10 am to 4 pm. Appointments for private viewing by can be made by phone at 404-894-3880.

“Digital Paintings” is a set of vast prints, some reaching ten feet in length, that draw the viewer into undulating depths and evocative interplay of colors. In the artist’s statement, Dimitropoulos questions perceived limitations of computer functions in creative expression and calls for deliberate discovery and exploitation of digital systems to make highly original, highly personal objects. 

“I am particularly pleased that the opening exhibition will be the computer work of one of our most gifted design teachers,” said Balfour. “This is also an anniversary, for it is 30 years since I first invited Harris to exhibit in the school—this was a show of splendid paintings of strange universes—even stranger universes will be found in the in the new exhibit.”

Situated at the public face of the 1952 East Architecture Building, the exhibition space was an important component in architect P.M. Heffernan’s purposefully Modern architectural design. Directly below is a 300-seat auditorium, complementing the gallery’s intention of creative and public discourse.

“With your help the Stubbins Gallery will become the first of what I trust will be several such spaces across the Georgia Tech campus presenting the creativity of this community in all its forms,” said Balfour.

“As the executive sponsor of Tech Arts initiative, I have a particular interest in making all the products of our imagining visible,” he continued. “I want to see exhibited smart robots, GVU animations, simulations from all fields from crystal growth to climate projection and new materials, the products of capstone engineering, new product designs, concepts for new carbon neutral cities and of course the winners of the Inventure Prize and the Guthman New Musical Instrument Prize – and maybe even the occasional Rambling Wreck - and more and more as we recognize and celebrate the exceptional creativity in all aspects the campus.”

Upcoming events in the Stubbins Gallery include a public performance of “Drawn Together” on February 15, 2012, an immersive and interactive 3D music- and art-making drawing desk created by Georgia Tech students and faculty with renowned digital artists, The Open Ended Group.

On April 11-13, 2012, a Neuro-Salon and Conference will highlight encounters among cognitive science, neuroscience, biological sciences and engineering with the Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts.