David Scott Leibowitz brings over thirty years of fascination with photography, video art, and experimental filmaking to his current position as a pioneer in the developing medium of Digital Art. Mr. Leibowitz is part of a new generation of artists who are redefining the boundaries of both fine arts and popular culture. Having come of age during the information revolution, his work merges an appreciation for the plastic arts with an affinity for advanced computer technology.
Mr. Leibowitz completed his formal education in 1976 with a bachelor of Fine Arts in Cinema from the University of Bridgeport. Studies included film, video, photography, and art, with experimental filmaker Warren Bass, and Video artist Shalom Gorewitz. During the late seventies, he completed his formative period working for Director/Cinematographer Tibor Hirsch.
His early interests involved some kind of alteration of the traditional photographic image, which lead to his manipulation of Polaroid SX-70 film in 1977. He exhibited this medium, which he calls ‘Photo-Impressionism’, in an annual Soho exhibit for sixteen years. His work has been exhibited in a number of museum shows in New Jersey, and has been included in the corporate collections of IBM, Philip Morris, Polaroid, Canon USA, Microsoft, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Leibowitzs’ experience with video art during and after university, brought him hands-on knowledge of video systems, and special effects. He established a company to provide playback, and assorted video analysis to film production companies, and advertising agencies on the sets of TV commercials. He was the first on the East coast to use Media 100 non-linear editing equipment for Video assist. This brought accurate slo-motion, post effects, and instant editorial to the set, a valuable production tool we all now take for granted.
While maintaining his company, Leibowitz has pursued his personal interest in creating a new visual language through the use of photography, videography, 3D renderings and collage assembled on the Macintosh platform.
In 1991, he was approached by Jim Ross and Randy Pardy of Detroit Digital Studios to bring his unique skill and vision to a Shima Seiki Image Graphics Workstation. The resulting work has produced images of extraordinary beauty and delicacy. In the past few years, this work has been published in a feature article in Confetti magazine, in Polaroid’s Test magazine, twice in Computer Artist magazine, in the Jeremy Gardiner book, Digital Photo-Illustration, on the Quantum Access CD-Rom, The Virtual Gallery, and in the book Fractal Design: Painter 3 Complete.
In 1995 he turned his attention to the moving image, hand painting video a frame at a time in the computer and incorporated 3D rendering into his art. At the turn of the century, he designed the searchable web site, Leibo.net as a living, ever changing portal into his world. It extensively documents this artist’s evolution of imagery into the digital age, and is updated constantly with new work.
In 2008, he began making art on a new computing platform, Apple’s iPhone, and using dozens of iPhone apps, is now creating Art as new as the latest Photo/Art apps release.
Leibowitz’s involvement with mobile digital art goes way beyond creating art using the latest tools. In June of 2009, he co-developed an iPhone app, “iCreated”, which is dedicated to artwork made on these iDevices and to creating a visual correlation between art and creative apps. This put him in touch with many of the artists using iPhones, app developers and the many places on the web where these types congregate. Making art on the iPhone or iPad and joining dedicated groups on Flickr, a photo-sharing social network, put him in the middle of an incredibly supportive and proactive international community.
In July of 2009 he began writing a book about art created on iPhones and iPads and now, this finished book features the work of 67 international artists, and is awaiting publication.
In the Spring of 2010, Leibowitz and six others co-founded The International Association of Mobile Digital Artists, or iAMDA, a non-profit organization dedicated to this new medium. The first event, Mobile Art Con 2010, was co-sponsored by the prestigious NYU ITP program this past October and planning for October 2011 is underway. This group is working to promote the medium through participation in exhibitions worldwide and education via the group’s website and the yearly conference.
With a multitude of images created in various mediums, the latest tools and techniques and a refined artistic sensibility, Mr. Leibowitz, camera still in hand, continues his pursuit of new methods to match new visions.