The Stars Align Between an Artist and Astrophysicist on March 15

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Submitted

Cosmos Dialogos II-2009; oil on canvas by Steve Carpenter.

Steve Carpenter is an artist; Adam Frank is an astrophysicist.

Carpenter and Frank will discuss their collaboration and the union between art and science at Rochester Institute of Technology from 10 a.m. to noon March 15. “Cosmos Dialogos: The Harmony of the Relative and the Absolute” is free and open to the public, and will be held in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science Auditorium.

Carpenter worked for Walt Disney as an illustrator before embarking on a successful 30-year career in Monaco and Monte Carlo as a favored artist to the rich and famous—from the royal family to celebrities like Ringo Starr, Cary Grant, and Michael Douglas. A Buddhist, Carpenter knew Rochester from visiting the Rochester Zen Center and came to live here 11 years ago at the age of 55—first teaching art at the Memorial Art Gallery, then founding the Steve Carpenter Gallery & Art Center on Anderson Avenue.

Frank is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester who researches the evolution of the stars using supercomputers to animate the equations of mathematical physics. Self described as an “evangelist of science,” he particularly studies the matter ejected from stars during their birth and death cycles. As Frank says, it’s visually “some of the most beautiful structures seen in the night sky.”

And believe it or not, Carpenter paints them.

“We’ll get to see first hand how Steve’s paintings incorporate the imagery of the Hubble Telescope and scientific formulas contributed by Adam,” says Alan Singer, associate professor at RIT’s School of Art, which is sponsoring the event. “It’s truly a remarkable and creative process between two masters in their fields.”

For more information, contact Alan Singer at 585-475-2649 or adsfaa@rit.edu.