Duane Palyka

Duane Palyka is an American computer artist and scientist born in 1944 who has played a significant role in the development of computer graphics over several decades. He studied mathematics and fine arts at Carnegie Mellon University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting in 1968, before completing a Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the University of Utah in 1970. Throughout his career, Palyka has seamlessly blended technical expertise with artistic vision, building a bridge between these disciplines. He is currently based in Rochester, New York.

The very first artwork Duane Palyka remembers creating was a handcrafted figure made from a cigar box. He cut out paper pieces for a head, arms, and legs, imagining the box as representing Jesus. Inside, he placed squiggly paper shapes to symbolize intestines before closing it up. This piece shows his early fascination with combining human forms and box-like structures, a theme that would quietly influence his later work.

When he started art school, Palyka began creating images using punch-card computers, programming characters like X, N, and Z to produce complex patterns and shades. This method was unusual at the computing center, where plain text was the norm, and his work was initially discouraged as “not normal.” Duane found an unexpected ally in Dr. Herbert Simon, a Nobel Prize winner known for his work in AI, psychology, and economics. Simon saw potential in Duane’s computer art experiments and became a mentor, meeting with him regularly and even helping him to obtain academic credit. He was also instrumental in securing funding that allowed Duane to keep pushing his work forward. 

Palyka went on to work as a research associate at the University of Utah’s Computer Graphics Lab, senior research scientist at the New York Institute of Technology, and technical director for Industrial Light and Magic on two George Lucas films. His work has been shown internationally in landmark exhibitions such as the 1968 Cybernetic Serendipity show at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. He also exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in New York and Kubus in Hannover, Germany. Palyka’s art, characterized by a fusion of minimalism, op art, and cutting-edge computer technology, remains an important contribution to the foundation of digital art.