Laurence Gartel

Laurence Gartel (1956) is an American Digital Media Artist widely regarded as a Pioneer and often called the “Father of Digital Art.” He began creating art with computers in the mid-1970s — long before personal computers or commercial image-editing software existed — and helped shape digital art as a recognized artistic medium.

Gartel grew up in New York City and earned a BFA in graphics from the School of Visual Arts, where he studied alongside Keith Haring. Early in his career he worked with video art legend Nam June Paik who wrote the Introduction to his firsr monograph: "Laurence Gartel: A Cybernetic Romance" and famously taught Andy Warhol how to use an Amiga computer to produce the album cover for Debbie Harry (Blondie). The Lucca Museum in Italy held the exhibition "WARHOL VS GARTEL HYP POP" along with an accompanying book of the same title written by museum director Maurizio Vanni. 

His innovative digital collages and compositions have been exhibited at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), MoMA PS1, the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Princeton Art Museum, and are part of permanent collections such as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Bibliothèque Nationale and Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum. . Gartel created the first digital advertising campaign for ABSOLUT GARTEL for Absolut Vodka in 1990 and has produced commissioned work for cultural icons such as Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, as well as corporate clients like Coca-Cola and the NBA as well as being the Official Artist of the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. 

Beyond gallery art, he is known for art cars — vehicles transformed into digital art pieces launching the TESLA Electric Art Roadster for Elon Musk during Art Basel MIami Beach 2010, and being the Feature of the 113th New York International Auto Show in 2013. — His newest book: "Laurence Gartel: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: Miami/Normandie" was unveiled during three exhibitions in Forges Les-Eaux, France, Fall 2025.