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Hurwitz’s presence as an Internet art phenomenon was again established in late 2014 when he released a series of “nano sculptures” under the title of Trust. The works again web viral being seen by an estimated 20 million people. This series of works was particularly interesting because the captured the imagination of both the scientific and art community, being cited by among others, Nature Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Science and Phys.org.
Hurwitz’s presence as an Internet art phenomenon was again established in late 2014 when he released a series of “nano sculptures” under the title of Trust. The works again web viral being seen by an estimated 20 million people. This series of works was particularly interesting because the captured the imagination of both the scientific and art community, being cited by among others, Nature Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Science and Phys.org.

==Anamorphic Sculpture==
Hurwitz has produced a significant body of work using both oblique (perspective) and catoptric (mirror) [anamorphosis]. Hurwitz explains his anamorphic inspiration as follows. “I have always been torn between art and physics. In a moment of self-doubt in 2008, I wondered into the National Portrait Gallery and stumbled across a strange anamorphic piece by William Scrots (Portrait of Edward VI, 1546). Followed shortly down the aisle by The Ambassadors (Hans Holbein, 1533). My life changed forever. I rushed home and within hours was devouring the works of Escher, Da Vinci and many more. In a breath I had found “brothers” in a smallish group of artists spanning 500 years with exactly the same dilemma as me. Within two months I was deep in production of my first work. My art rests on the shoulders of giants, and I am grateful to them.” http://twistedsifter.com/2013/04/anamorphic-sculptures-made-with-algorithms-jonty-hurwitz/

Anamorphosis as a form of art has a long history. A sketch in [Leonardo Da Vinci]’s note book (folio 35 verso a of the Codex Atlanticus) shows two strangely elongated sketches of a child's head and an eye. These distorted and hesitant drawings, the first known anamorphoses c.1485.” <ref>{{cite web|url=http://startstudioarts.si.edu/2009/08/anamorphoses-in-the-eye-of-leonardo.html |title=Anamorphoses in the eyes of Leonardo |publisher=The Smithsonian, Holly Sloofman |date= 26 August 2009}}</ref>

In the mid-18th Century anamorphosis was also used by [Jacobite] artists to secretly depict images of [Bonnie Prince Charlie] in the face of brutal English censorship<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.core77.com/blog/fine_art/how_to_hide_a_forbidden_image_in_plain_sight_anamorphic_cylinders_27356.asp |title=How to Hide a Forbidden Image in Plain Sight |publisher=Core77, Rain Noe |date= 22 July 2014}}</ref>.

Hurwitz, however, pioneered catoptric anamorphic sculpture. Until the creation of his first sculpture 'Rejuvenation', anamorphic sculpture is not known to have existed in art history. In his online talks Hurwitz explains that this is a function of processing power and that whilst painting is possible in a mirror, three dimensional anamorphosis could only have come into being advent of powerful computers. Hurwitz creates his sculptures using an algorithm derived from Pi. http://www.designboom.com/art/anamorphic-sculptures-by-jonty-hurwitz/ and http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2013/02/kiss-of-chytrid-anamorphic-art-jonty-hurwitz/ His work is representational of our time in a way that other more traditional works of art cannot be. For this reason he asserts that his art is “contemporary to the milliseconds”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nsfwyoutube.com/videos/398405/Jonty-Hurwitz-talk-Contemporary-Art-is-measured-in-milliseconds |title=Contemporary Art is Measured in Milliseconds |publisher=NSFW Youtube, Vera Productions, Jonty Hurwitz |date= March 2013}}</ref>

===Hurwitz Catoptric Sculptures ===
Kiss of Chytrid (Edition of 5)
Anamorphic Frog in Bronze (Edition of 50)
Rejuvenation in Copper (Edition of 5)
Rejuvenation Bronze Edition (Edition of 50)
The Mathematics of Me
Yoda and the Anamorph (Edition of 9)
Yogi Banker in Copper (Edition of 5)
The Hurwitz Singularity (Edition of 9)
Savoy Cat

Oblique Works
Co-Founder 2010
Interconnectedness of Self
Seven Generations
Lala Land
Sinusoidal Perfume


==Financial Technology==
==Financial Technology==
Line 66: Line 93:
==Education==
==Education==
Jonty studied [[Electrical Engineering]] at the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] in [[Johannesburg]] from 1989 to 1993. His major was [[Signal Processing]]. He then joined the [[University of Cape Town]] Remote Sensing Group as a full time researcher under Professor Michael Inggs, publishing a paper on radar pattern recognition. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=365844 |title=Synthetic Range Profile Measurements of Aircraft, COMSIG-93, COMSIG ’93:204 – 209, September 1993. M R Inggs, J.B. Hurwitz, and A. Langman. |publisher=COMSIG |date= |accessdate=1993}}</ref>
Jonty studied [[Electrical Engineering]] at the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] in [[Johannesburg]] from 1989 to 1993. His major was [[Signal Processing]]. He then joined the [[University of Cape Town]] Remote Sensing Group as a full time researcher under Professor Michael Inggs, publishing a paper on radar pattern recognition. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=365844 |title=Synthetic Range Profile Measurements of Aircraft, COMSIG-93, COMSIG ’93:204 – 209, September 1993. M R Inggs, J.B. Hurwitz, and A. Langman. |publisher=COMSIG |date= |accessdate=1993}}</ref>

==Charity==
Hurwitz is founder of the Separated Child Foundation which supports unaccompanied refugee children arriving on UK shores.


Following his research post, Hurwitz travelled for a long period of time in India studying Yoga and wood carving.
Following his research post, Hurwitz travelled for a long period of time in India studying Yoga and wood carving.

Revision as of 16:14, 2 February 2015

Jonty Hurwitz
Jonty Hurwitz
Born (1969-09-02) 2 September 1969 (age 55)
Known forSculpture and Financial Technology

Jonty Hurwitz (born 2 September 1969 in Johannesburg) is a sculptor and engineer living in London. He is best known for his scientifically inspired artworks, anamorphic forms and for the smallest sculptures ever created of the human form.[1] Hurwitz's work focuses not only on the aesthetics of art itself, but on how the human brain perceives it.

"Jonty Hurwitz is very clearly a polymath in the same vein as Da Vinci," wrote art critic Katherine Tyrrell, "He's one of the very few people I've met who integrates science and art in a convincing way and who also has an imperative which involves developing new ways of doing and new ways of seeing. This is very much art of today and it seems to me to be the type of art which will be of great interest to major contemporary art collections."[2]. London Kinetic Art curator and director of the Kinetica Museum, Dianne Harris described Hurwitz's art as follows "The works of polymath Jonty Hurwitz are contemporary trompe l'oeil, at first glance appearing abstract, but in mirrored reflections, representational." [3].

The Art of Jonty Hurwitz

Hurwitz's early body of sculpture was first written about by art critic Estelle Lovatt in early 2011 in an article in Art of England Magazine where she described him as follows: "Thinning the divide gap between art and science, Hurwitz is cognisant of the two being holistically co-joined in the same way as we are naturally, comfortably split between our spiritual and operational self." [4].

Until late 2008 Hurwitz had never produced any sculpture but in 2009 Hurwitz’s first ever sculpture “Yoda and the Anamorph” won the People’s Choice award in the Maidstone Museum and Art Gallery Art Prize.[5]. Later in 2009 he won the Noble Sculpture Prize[6] and was commissioned to install his first large scale work in the Italian medieval village Colletta di Castelbianco. In 2010 he was selected as a finalist for the 4th International Arte Laguna Prize in Venice, Italy[7].

A turning point came January 2013 when Hurwitz's anamorphic work was discovered by prominent art blogger Christopher Jobson[8] and within days of being posted had gone viral on the internet. In a short documentary about Hurwitz's "Generation Pi" philosophy by Vera Productions [9] it is estimated that the sculpture received 20 million views online in the space of a few weeks.

Following on from the internet explosion of his anamorphic works, in early 2013 Hurwitz was commissioned by the Savoy Hotel to be Artist in Residence[10] and produce a sculpture of the hotel’s historically iconic Kaspar the Cat.[11]. Hurwitz lived for several months in the hotel producing the sculpture. Prior to Hurwitz’s creation of the sculpture child laureat Michael Morpurgo was artist in residence producing his novel “Kaspar the Cat”.

By late 2013, in a special edition of Art of England on portraiture, Hurwitz was cited as the #1 portrait artist in the UK by London art agent, Sally Vaughan.[12]. In the same year Hurwitz was also nominated for the Threadneedle Prize and exhibited a collection at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. In January 2014 Hurwitz was voted #46 in the top 100 artists of 2013 by the leading american art site, Empty Kingdom.[13] In the same month, Hurwitz's anamorphic sculpture "Yogi Banker" was voted as "The best of 2013" by the American Art and Culture magazine, Juxtapoz.[14]

Hurwitz’s presence as an Internet art phenomenon was again established in late 2014 when he released a series of “nano sculptures” under the title of Trust. The works again web viral being seen by an estimated 20 million people. This series of works was particularly interesting because the captured the imagination of both the scientific and art community, being cited by among others, Nature Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Science and Phys.org.

Anamorphic Sculpture

Hurwitz has produced a significant body of work using both oblique (perspective) and catoptric (mirror) [anamorphosis]. Hurwitz explains his anamorphic inspiration as follows. “I have always been torn between art and physics. In a moment of self-doubt in 2008, I wondered into the National Portrait Gallery and stumbled across a strange anamorphic piece by William Scrots (Portrait of Edward VI, 1546). Followed shortly down the aisle by The Ambassadors (Hans Holbein, 1533). My life changed forever. I rushed home and within hours was devouring the works of Escher, Da Vinci and many more. In a breath I had found “brothers” in a smallish group of artists spanning 500 years with exactly the same dilemma as me. Within two months I was deep in production of my first work. My art rests on the shoulders of giants, and I am grateful to them.” http://twistedsifter.com/2013/04/anamorphic-sculptures-made-with-algorithms-jonty-hurwitz/

Anamorphosis as a form of art has a long history. A sketch in [Leonardo Da Vinci]’s note book (folio 35 verso a of the Codex Atlanticus) shows two strangely elongated sketches of a child's head and an eye. These distorted and hesitant drawings, the first known anamorphoses c.1485.” [15]

In the mid-18th Century anamorphosis was also used by [Jacobite] artists to secretly depict images of [Bonnie Prince Charlie] in the face of brutal English censorship[16].

Hurwitz, however, pioneered catoptric anamorphic sculpture. Until the creation of his first sculpture 'Rejuvenation', anamorphic sculpture is not known to have existed in art history. In his online talks Hurwitz explains that this is a function of processing power and that whilst painting is possible in a mirror, three dimensional anamorphosis could only have come into being advent of powerful computers. Hurwitz creates his sculptures using an algorithm derived from Pi. http://www.designboom.com/art/anamorphic-sculptures-by-jonty-hurwitz/ and http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2013/02/kiss-of-chytrid-anamorphic-art-jonty-hurwitz/ His work is representational of our time in a way that other more traditional works of art cannot be. For this reason he asserts that his art is “contemporary to the milliseconds”[17]

Hurwitz Catoptric Sculptures

Kiss of Chytrid (Edition of 5) Anamorphic Frog in Bronze (Edition of 50) Rejuvenation in Copper (Edition of 5) Rejuvenation Bronze Edition (Edition of 50) The Mathematics of Me Yoda and the Anamorph (Edition of 9) Yogi Banker in Copper (Edition of 5) The Hurwitz Singularity (Edition of 9) Savoy Cat

Oblique Works Co-Founder 2010 Interconnectedness of Self Seven Generations Lala Land Sinusoidal Perfume

Financial Technology

In the mid-90’s Jonty moved to England and got his first job analyzing financial data for Gilbert de Botton, Chairman and Founder of Global Asset Management (GAM). During this period he was exposed to de Botton’s pioneering open architecture model of asset management. It was Jonty’s close relationship with de Botton (a major British art collector) that exposed him to the art world. The two maintained a close friendship until de Botton's death in 2000.

Hurwitz left Global Asset Management after 2 years to form his own company, Delve, to further R&D in financial data visualisation. Jonty’s main client became de Botton himself. In 1996 GAM launched its financial reporting technology built by Hurwitz, which instantly attracted attention in the financial media, winning several awards. Hurwitz’s newly formed graphics and software team evolved over several years working on visualization platforms in a wide range of subjects (the list is not exhaustive):

  • 1998, Biosys an environmental simulation game published by Take 2 Interactive.
  • 1997, News International archives on the Cold War and the Industrial Revolution, Published by News International
  • 1998 Hurwitz was selected by the British Foreign Office to build a 3D engine called “Oceans of Innovation” to represent the leading edge of British Innovation. The work was nominated for a BATA Award.[18].

Over the years from 2000 to 2005 Hurwitz signed up a large base of asset management groups using his reporting and analysis technology. In 2005, Hurwitz’s company Delve was acquired by Alternative Investment Market listed company Statpro Group PLC (SOG) for an undisclosed price[19].

Hurwitz joined Statpro as Creative Director where he designed the first Cloud Computing analytics and risk platform for asset data. In 2008 Statpro launched its flagship product Statpro Revolution which was the fruit of this R&D. By 2014, eight out of the top ten largest asset managers in the world were Statpro Clients[20].

Hurwitz was approached in 2007 to design and build the first real-time online consumer loans system in the world. He joined Damelin at Wonga.com in January 2008 as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the startup. During this period Wonga’s technology won several awards (listed below). By 2011 Wonga had begun to attract a huge amount of criticism and Hurwitz, as the inventor of the technology found himself with not enough influence to guide the now large company's use of his designs. After several failed attempts at changing Wonga's strategy, he resigned from his operational role in November 2011.

Despite the complex outcome of Wonga, the technology is now credited with several ground-breaking innovations in the financial services industry:

  • Real-time risk technology. Wonga’s risk engine was the first ever to evaluate the credit worthiness of a customer in near real time on the internet based on the collection of data from alternative sources in combination with traditional credit scores. The first working “big data” consumer risk technology[22]. On the back of this ground-breaking ability to evaluate people with no human intervention, Wonga became the first company worldwide able to offer real time loans 24x7.

In 2011 Hurwitz backed the young visionary Damian Kimmelman, to build a next-generation data provider Duedil[23]. Duedil has emerged a one of the key data providers in Europe and the UK for private business data[24].

In 2011 Hurwitz seed seed funded the disruptive financial technology startup behalf.com in the America[25].

In 2012 Hurwitz backed the UK startup bank for young people: Meet Osper.

Early life

Jonty Hurwitz, born 2 September 1969 in Johannesburg, South Africa to Selwin, a hotelier and entrepreneur and Marcia, a drama lecturer and teacher. Jonty spent his early life living in small hotels in rural towns in South Africa while his father built up his business.

Education

Jonty studied Electrical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg from 1989 to 1993. His major was Signal Processing. He then joined the University of Cape Town Remote Sensing Group as a full time researcher under Professor Michael Inggs, publishing a paper on radar pattern recognition. [26]

Charity

Hurwitz is founder of the Separated Child Foundation which supports unaccompanied refugee children arriving on UK shores.

Following his research post, Hurwitz travelled for a long period of time in India studying Yoga and wood carving.

Awards and Nominations

Art and Design

  • 1998 BAFTA Interactive Nomination, Best use of moving image (Delve)
  • 1998 BIMA, British Interactive Media Award (Delve)
  • 1999 IVCA, International Visual Communications Award (Delve)
  • 2009, Noble Sculpture Prize, Liguria, Italy
  • 2009, Maidstone Museum Bentlif Art Prize, People Choice Award, United Kingdom
  • 2000 IVCA Nomination, Award for Innovation (Delve)
  • 2000 New Media Age Nomination, Special Award for Innovation (Delve)
  • 2010 Arte Laguna Prize, Finalist, Venice, Italy 
  • 2010, Gofigurative Art Prize, Peoples Vote, London, United Kingdom

Technology Awards and Nominations (teams under Hurwitz's creative direction)

  • 2000 BIMA Nomination, New Consumer Focused Services Online (Delve)   
  • 2001 EMMA, Technical Excellence, Interactivity (Delve)     
  • 2002 BIMA Nomination, Banking and Financial Services Technology (Delve)   
  • 2008 Highly commended - Orange Best Use of Technology (Wonga)
  • 2009 IMA Outstanding Achievement Award - financial services category (Wonga)
  • 2009 Most Innovative Application of Technology - Customer, Financial Innovation Awards (Wonga)
  • 2009 Credit Risk Team of the Year, Credit Today Awards (Wonga)
  • 2010 Best Use of Technology, Fast Growth Business Awards (Wonga)
  • 2010 Best Site of the Year - Banking & Bill Payment Category, Webby Awards (Wonga)
  • 2010 2nd in Guardian’s Tech Media Invest 100, Guardian (Wonga)
  • 2010 1st in ‘10 European Technology Companies to Watch’, Telegragh (Wonga)
  • 2010 8th in Startups 100, Startups.co.uk - recognises the UK’s most innovative new companies (Wonga)

Exhibitions

  • 2014, Art and the Internet, Gofigurative Gallery, Hampstead, London
  • 2014 Kinetica Art Fair, Truman Brewry, London
  • 2014 Illusion Exhibition USA tour with the Dublin Science Gallery, San Francisco
  • 2014 Illusion Exhibition USA tour with the Dublin Science Gallery, San Diego
  • 2014 Threadneedle Prize Exhibition, ICA London
  • 2013 Savoy Hotel, Unveiling of Kaspar the Anamorphic Cat sculpture, Solo show
  • 2013: Old Street Art, Gofigurative Gallery, Solo Show
  • 2012: Kinetica, location
  • 2011 Tower 42, City of London, Solo show, UK
  • 2011 Art London, Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, UK
  • 2011 Bloomsbury Art Show (represented by Arthur Ackerman Gallery), London, UK
  • 2011 Untitled Artists Fair, London, UK
  • 2010 Arthur Ackermann Gallery, Christmas Exhibition, London, UK
  • 2010 Unveiling of Dietro di me, Bernard Noble Sculpture Foundation, Colletta, Italy
  • 2010 Art London, Represented by Arthur Ackermann Gallery, London, UK   
  • 2010 Go Figurative Show, Real Broadgate, Broadgate Circle, London, UK
  • 2010 Go Figurative Show, Real Hampstead, St. Stephen's, London, UK
  • 2010 Untitled Art Fair, London, UK
  • 2010 Arte Laguna, Arsenale, Venice, and
  • 2009 Lloyd Gill Gallery Christmas Exhibition, UK
  • 2009 Bentlif Gallery, Maidstone Museum, UK

References

  1. ^ "Artist Creates Sculptures So Tiny They Can't Be Seen By The Human Eye". Huffington Post, Leigh Weingus. 14 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Kaspar's at the Savoy and Jonty Hurwitz's Anamorphic Art, Katherine Tyrrell". Making a Mark. May 2013.
  3. ^ "Kinetica Museum Artist Profile, 2013". Kinetica. 2013.
  4. ^ "Art of England, Estelle Lovatt, Feb 2011 publication, p50" (PDF). Art of England. February 2011.
  5. ^ "Winner of Art Prize Announced". Kent Online. 06 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Bernard Noble Sculpture Prize". February 2011.
  7. ^ "Arte Laguna Exhibition Catalogue, p106" (PDF). Arte Laguna Prize. 2010.
  8. ^ "The skewed anamorphic sculptures and engineered illusions of Jonty Hurwitz". Christopher Jobson, Colossal. 21 January 2013.
  9. ^ "The Paintbrush of Mathematics". Vera Productions. March 2013.
  10. ^ "London's Savoy Hotel continues its artist in residence tradition". Artlyst. April 2013.
  11. ^ "A homage to Kaspar the friendly Cat checks in at the Savoy's new eatery". The Independent. April 2013.
  12. ^ "Six of the Best, Sally Vaughan, Aug 2013". Art of England. August 2013.
  13. ^ "Top 100 artists of 2013, Empty Kingdom". Empty Kingdom. 31 January 2014.
  14. ^ "Best of 2013: Sculpture by Jonty Hurwitz". Juxtapoz. 31 December 2013.
  15. ^ "Anamorphoses in the eyes of Leonardo". The Smithsonian, Holly Sloofman. 26 August 2009.
  16. ^ "How to Hide a Forbidden Image in Plain Sight". Core77, Rain Noe. 22 July 2014.
  17. ^ "Contemporary Art is Measured in Milliseconds". NSFW Youtube, Vera Productions, Jonty Hurwitz. March 2013.
  18. ^ "Bafta plugs into interactive awards ". BBC. 9 October 1998.
  19. ^ "Acquisition of Delve, a leading supplier of enterprise and web reporting". Proactive Investors. 4 July 2005.
  20. ^ "Eight out of the top ten largest asset managers in the world Statpro Clients ". Statpro. 20 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Your prosperity could depend on an Algorithm". Will Sawney,Guardian. 16 October 2011.
  22. ^ "The algorithm that beats your bank manager". Parmy Olson, Forbes. 15 March 2011.
  23. ^ "Duedil secures funding from Jonty Hurwitz". Growth Business, Thomas Hobbs. 14 December 2011.
  24. ^ "UK startup dubbed 'Bloomberg of private companies' raises $17m". Financial Times, Jonathan Moules. 3 March 2014.
  25. ^ "Challenged by Upstarts, Lenders try a New Strategy: Cooperation". New York Times, Randall Smith. 7 January 2015.
  26. ^ "Synthetic Range Profile Measurements of Aircraft, COMSIG-93, COMSIG '93:204 – 209, September 1993. M R Inggs, J.B. Hurwitz, and A. Langman". COMSIG. Retrieved 1993. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)