Ambush art meets the postmodern digital world in Judith Jacobs’ University of Michigan Health System Gifts of Art “Off the Walls: Digital Pigment Ink Prints” presentation.

Jacobs explains in her exhibition statement: “I’ve always been interested in the worn surfaces and graffiti of city walls and have used graffiti, especially, in most of my artwork.

“For the past few years, the illusion of collage on the printed surface has especially interested me; people have told me that they’re convinced the elements in my digital prints are actual pasted papers until they examine them closely.

“In 2011 I began a series I call ‘wall portraits.’ Using Photoshop layers, I position papers and graffiti one might find on real walls and create on-screen new, unique walls of my imagining. These layers are made from scans and from my own photos of the materials, including actual paper-and-paste collages I made previously.”

This digital element makes for an interesting trompe l’oeil, for as Jacobs later states, “A few of the prints are edited photos I took of actual city walls with all their pastings and graffiti” — and this visual remove only adds another layer of complexity to an already lively aesthetic.

After all, Jacobs is admitting that she’s taken the notion of graffiti — a sort of transgressive ambush art — and modified its use in the digital realm. Yet this, of course, raises the fascinating question of whether one can do graffiti digitally.

If not, then Jacobs has crafted a compelling technological Art Brut. And while this is an achievement in itself, it leaves open the question of why she’s chosen this medium.

On the other hand, if digital graffiti is a form of art, then this makes Jacobs a cutting-edge talent who’s adapted her work in ways that makes for a kind of 21st century aesthetic banditry whose place at the artistic table is secure.

It's difficult not to endorse this latter notion. Jacobs’ orientation is graffiti enough, even without a spray can. But even this choice of medium is ultimately a minor detail.

Taking the outlaw spirit and using Photoshop for her placement encapsulates the spirit of Art Brut, graffiti art, and digital technology in one fell swoop. After all, what could be more transgressive than to transgress transgressive art?

That’s the reason it’s not only acceptable to call this “fine” art — but to also call it outsider art.

It’s also a pretty nifty creativity. One senses we’re only scratching the surface of how digital technology is going to change how we do and see art in the future.

These “wall portrait” are fascinating. They constitute 29 of the 31 digital prints on display. In some instances (for example “Wall Portraits No. 20 and No. 21”), Jacobs is not only modifying her digital palette; she’s also playing with the texture of her presentation.

For “Wall Portrait No. 20” is a solid enough artwork, but its earth tones shade on the side of being stolid. “Wall Portrait No. 21,” on the other hand, is all graffiti.

Through the simple maneuver of taking “No. 20’s” dominate midground brown geometry and digitally heightening its color contrast to a bright orange, Jacobs gives “No. 21” a flair that heightens the print’s drama. And thereafter digitally layering ground upon ground of graffiti, she makes this print a unified whole.

It’s certainly whole enough to look everything like something that might be seen on a wall. But that’s just Jacobs creating new walls upon which to draw upon. Through in her creativity, we can say graffiti will never die — it will only find new dimensions.

“Judith Jacobs: Off the Walls: Digital Pigment Ink Prints” will continue through April 8 at the University of Michigan Health System Floor One Taubman South Lobby Gifts of Art Gallery, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. For information, call 734-936-ARTS.