Leslie Mezei

I am a Holocaust survivor from Second World War Hungary and graduated from McGill University in 1953, with first class honors in mathematics and physics. I started working with computers at Ontario Hydro in 1954 and moved to Confederation Life Insurance Company in 1958. In 1965 I became an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. I taught the first Artificial Intelligence course in Canada in 1967, and in the same year, established the Computer Graphics Group, which became the Dynamic Graphics Project (DGP).

I presented the first conference paper ever on visual computer art in May 1964 and published the first article in November 1964 with Arnold Rockman. I became the scholar of the early years of that field, with many talks and publications, an annual Bibliography from March 1967, and a regular column in ArtsCanada from April 1968 for two years.

I started producing my own computer art in 1967, exploring geometric, mathematical and random transformations, and early representational images, using my SPARTA language, and animations with ARTA. They have been included in many exhibitions and published in many catalogues, articles and books. I left the field in 1978 for a career in personal financial planning and spiritual endeavors.