Daniel Lefcourt

Professor
Image
RISD faculty member Daniel Lefcourt
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design
MFA, Columbia University

Daniel Lefcourt’s artistic practice engages the discipline of painting through the lens of scientific, industrial and military imaging technologies. His current areas of research focus on generative systems, chance and procedural design.

Lefcourt has exhibited internationally in galleries and museums for over two decades. His artworks are in numerous museum collections, including at The Whitney Museum, New York; Yale University Art Gallery; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge; ︎The Rachofsky Collection at The Warehouse, Dallas; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; and︎ V-A-C Foundation, Moscow. His work has also been included in numerous museum exhibitions including at MoMA PS1, New York; ICA Philadelphia; Sculpture Center, New York; the de Young Museum, San Francisco; Malmo Konstmuseum, Sweden; and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, among others.

His artwork is represented by Mitchell-Innes & Nash in New York, where he has had multiple solo exhibitions, and by Campoli Presti in Europe, where he has had regular solo exhibitions in both London and Paris. He has had additional solo and group gallery exhibitions at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles; Andrea Rosen, Gallery Lelong and Taxter & Spengemann in New York; Galerie Mitterrand & Sanz in Zurich; and Luis Campaña Galerie, Berlin; among others. 

Lefcourt’s work has received critical responses in ArtForumFriezeArt in AmericaThe New Yorker and The New York Times, among others, and has been included in numerous publications. He has spoken at institutions including the DIA Center for the Arts, Harvard University and the Cooper Union.

Lefcourt has been a member of the faculty at RISD since 2008, a full-time faculty member since 2011, and a full professor since 2022. He has taught in both Experimental and Foundation Studies and the Painting department. In addition to RISD, Lefcourt previously taught at Parsons School of Design, the Cooper Union, OCAD University and Columbia University.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

FOUND 1003-18 - STUDIO: DESIGN
Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Foundation Studies
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

FOUND 1003-18

STUDIO: DESIGN

Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Foundation Studies
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: TH | 1:40 PM - 6:00 PM; TH | 8:00 AM - 11:10 AM Instructor(s): Daniel Lefcourt Location(s): Chace Center, Room 506 Enrolled / Capacity: 20 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Studio: Design promotes multidisciplinary studio experimentation across an array of media and processes. Students explore the organization of visual and other sensory elements in order to understand perceptual attributes and the production of meaning. Using various methods of expression, students may create objects, spaces, and experiences that demonstrate their analysis of composition, color, narrative, motion, systems, and cultural signification. Assignments allow for inquiries into scientific, social, cultural, historical, philosophical, technological, and political topics. Critical and experimental utilization of design principles, which underpin all of the arts, are emphasized. Students are guided through progressive investigations, in which the act of seeing is amplified by the study of physiological and cognitive factors that generate perception. Examined subjects are taken through stages of representation, abstraction, and/or symbolic interpretation to reveal essential communicative properties.

Enrollment is limited to first-year Undergraduate Students.

Major Requirement | BFA

CTC 2012-01 - GENERATIVE SYSTEMS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Computation,Technology, and Culture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

CTC 2012-01

GENERATIVE SYSTEMS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Computation,Technology, and Culture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: F | 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM Instructor(s): Daniel Lefcourt Location(s): Waterman Building, Room 33 Enrolled / Capacity: 16 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Generative Systems is an interdisciplinary course designed for students from all majors and varying levels of technical ability, inviting them to develop analog and digital generative systems for their own art and design projects. Students will follow online tutorials as part of their assignments, while the instructor will provide guidance and problem-solving support to ensure students' success. The course is an opportunity for students to explore tools based on their interests, such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Rhino/Grasshopper, SideFX Houdini, Blender geometry nodes, html/css/javascript and p5.js, model training and advanced generative A.I., and Photoshop scripting. Topics encompass randomization & noise, recursion, cellular automata, particle systems, agents, GANs, Diffusion models, LLMs, and more. Featuring guest critics from Generative A.I. research labs, the course enriches students' understanding of the field while delving into a global history of generative art and design, from ancient North African fractal architecture to modernist movements like Neoconcretismo and Nove Tendencije, ultimately showcasing contemporary artists, designers, and tool builders.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

Open to Undergraduates.

Elective

Spring 2024 Courses

FOUND 1004-23 - STUDIO: DESIGN
Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Foundation Studies
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

FOUND 1004-23

STUDIO: DESIGN

Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Foundation Studies
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM; W | 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM Instructor(s): Daniel Lefcourt Location(s): Auditorium, Room 520 Enrolled / Capacity: 20 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Studio: Design promotes multidisciplinary studio experimentation across an array of media and processes. Students explore the organization of visual and other sensory elements in order to understand perceptual attributes and the production of meaning. Using various methods of expression, students may create objects, spaces, and experiences that demonstrate their analysis of composition, color, narrative, motion, systems, and cultural signification. Assignments allow for inquiries into scientific, social, cultural, historical, philosophical, technological, and political topics. Critical and experimental utilization of design principles, which underpin all of the arts, are emphasized. Students are guided through progressive investigations, in which the act of seeing is amplified by the study of physiological and cognitive factors that generate perception. Examined subjects are taken through stages of representation, abstraction, and/or symbolic interpretation to reveal essential communicative properties.

Enrollment is limited to first-year undergraduate students.

Major Requirement | BFA

CTC 2012-01 - GENERATIVE SYSTEMS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Computation,Technology, and Culture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

CTC 2012-01

GENERATIVE SYSTEMS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Experimental and Foundation Studies
Subject Computation,Technology, and Culture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Daniel Lefcourt Location(s): Waterman Building, Room 33 Enrolled / Capacity: 16 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Generative Systems is an interdisciplinary course designed for students from all majors and varying levels of technical ability, inviting them to develop analog and digital generative systems for their own art and design projects. Students will follow online tutorials as part of their assignments, while the instructor will provide guidance and problem-solving support to ensure students' success. The course is an opportunity for students to explore tools based on their interests, such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Rhino/Grasshopper, SideFX Houdini, Blender geometry nodes, html/css/javascript and p5.js, model training and advanced generative A.I., and Photoshop scripting. Topics encompass randomization & noise, recursion, cellular automata, particle systems, agents, GANs, Diffusion models, LLMs, and more. Featuring guest critics from Generative A.I. research labs, the course enriches students' understanding of the field while delving into a global history of generative art and design, from ancient North African fractal architecture to modernist movements like Neoconcretismo and Nove Tendencije, ultimately showcasing contemporary artists, designers, and tool builders.

Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00

Elective

Image
RISD faculty member Daniel Lefcourt
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design
MFA, Columbia University