Although the visual appearance of the two artists’ work is very different, the tools and processes they use are similar. Both rely on computer code to create their work and inhabit a role somewhere between artist, designer, and engineer, working with logic and mathematics to generate their artworks. They have exhibited widely, and both earned international reputations for their pioneering work in the algorithmic arts.

This exhibition opening in April 2016 will explore the history of digital art by showcasing several of Brown & Son’s early artworks, including pieces made while in residence in Liverpool. By also showing more recent pieces, the exhibition will illustrate the continually advancing possibilities for technologically developed artwork, and how artists work with computers to explore their ideas. This way, the exhibition will look at how Paul’s ground-breaking media based practice has expanded into the pieces Daniel creates now.

Daniel’s stunning pieces not only embody the advances in the technology artists now have access to, but are also testament to the empowering potential of digital technology. In 2003, Daniel was involved in an accident that left him severely paralysed, and he sees digital technology as a tool for empowerment and access.

The exhibition will also showcase documentary work relating to other pioneers of code art, illustrating the city’s and North West Region’s contribution to the field, both in the UK and internationally. As Brown & Son had a close relationship to the late Roy Stringer, who was one of the early pioneers of the digital media industry, our former Chairman, and the creative visionary who set up Amaze, the exhibition also has special significance to us.