Isabella Flores
Op art, short for optical art, is a branch of mid-20th-century geometric abstract art that deals with optical illusion. Op artists create optical illusions through the manipulation of shapes, colours, and lines, often experimenting with pattern and form to achieve a desired effect. The movement first attracted international attention in 1965 with the Op exhibition The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This article will explore the history of the Op art movement, the techniques employed by its artists, and the notable figures who pioneered it.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Full form | Optical Art |
| Origin | The term was coined by Time magazine in 1964 in response to Julian Stanczak's exhibition Optical Paintings at the Martha Jackson Gallery |
| Originator | Victor Vasarely |
| Other prominent artists | Bridget Riley, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Larry Poons, Jeffrey Steele, Jesús Rafael Soto, Josef Albers, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Susan Weil, Polly Apfelbaum, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Melville, Michael Kidner, Otto Piene, Heinz Mack, Adolf Luther, Almir Mavignier, Gerhard von Graevenitz, Arnold Alfred Schmidt, Getulio Alviani, Yacov Agam, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Gregorio Vardanega, Nicolas Schöffer, François Morellet, Julio Le Parc, Francisco Sobrino, Horacio Garcia Rossi, Yvaral, Joël Stein, Vera Molnár, Lothar Quinte, Klaus Kammerichs, Hildegard Joos, Helga Philipp, John McHale, Franco Grignani, Martin Gardner, Julian Stanczak, Georges Seurat |
| Primary medium | Painting |
| Other media | Sculpture, graphic design |
| Style | Geometric abstract art |
| Subject | Optical illusions, usually movement |
| Techniques | Manipulation of shapes, colours, lines, patterns, light, perspective, chromatic tension |
| Influence | Bauhaus, Neo-Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dada, Impressionism, Pointillism, scientific findings, technical advances |
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What You'll Learn
Op art pioneers
Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometric patterns to create optical illusions. The movement first gained international attention in 1965 with the Op exhibition "The Responsive Eye" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Op art pioneers include:
Bridget Riley
Riley, arguably the most well-known Op Artist, is known for her intricate abstract paintings that use geometric shapes, patterns, and alternating colours to produce optical illusions of movement and three-dimensional effects. She was the first British contemporary artist and the first woman to win the International Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale in 1968.
Victor Vasarely
Hungarian-French artist Victor Vasarely is considered a paternal figure in the history of Op Art. His painting "Zebras" (1938) is considered one of the earliest examples of Op Art, as it is made up entirely of curvilinear black and white stripes that appear to meld into and burst forth from the surrounding background.
Richard Anuszkiewicz
Anuszkiewicz's work explores vibrational spectrums, creating optical illusions through the use of colour and geometry.
Jesús Rafael Soto
Venezuelan-born artist Jesús Rafael Soto is also considered a pioneer of Op Art. He created large-scale sculptures that employed light and motors, as well as sculptural materials, to create the illusion of movement in space.
Josef Albers
Albers' work laid the foundation for the Op Art movement. His minimalist design aesthetic, paired with his revolutionary colour theories, influenced many artists. His work focused on the study of colour perception and the codependent relationship between colour, shapes, and forms.
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Op art's influence on design, media and fashion
Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. Op art works exist, according to one writer, "less as objects than as generators of perceptual responses". The movement first attracted international attention with the Op exhibition "The Responsive Eye" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1965. The exhibition focused on the perceptual aspects of art, which result from both the illusion of movement and the interaction of colour relationships.
Influence on Design
The Op art movement emerged from a convergence of several trends in art and design, including geometric abstraction, kinetic art, and the use of new materials and technologies in art-making. Op art significantly influenced design, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. The movement's bold, eye-catching patterns and colours found their way into graphic design, home decor, and advertising. Op art practitioners created visually stimulating designs that were popularized in everything from clothing to album covers and movie posters.
Influence on Media
Op art-inspired visuals were used in various movies and TV shows during the 1960s and 1970s. The opening credits of the James Bond film "Dr. No" featured a swirling Op art pattern, while the psychedelic visuals and bold, colourful sets and costumes in the TV show "Batman" were heavily influenced by Op art. Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" employed many experimental techniques and Op art-inspired visuals. The 1968 animated film "Yellow Submarine," featuring music by The Beatles, reflected the era's artistic experimentation with its Op art-inspired visuals and bold colours.
Influence on Fashion
Op art patterns became popular in clothing design in the 1960s and 1970s. Designers such as Mary Quant, André Courrèges, and Paco Rabanne incorporated these bold, eye-catching designs into their collections, creating dresses, skirts, and accessories that were both playful and stylish. Op art-inspired designs were also popular in accessories such as scarves, bags, and jewellery. They added a lively and colourful touch to outfits and were often used to create a cohesive look with Op art-inspired clothing.
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Op art's relation to mathematics
Mathematics and art have a long historical relationship. Artists have used mathematics since the 4th century BC when the Greek sculptor Polykleitos wrote his Canon, prescribing proportions conjectured to have been based on the ratio 1:√2 for the ideal male nude. The golden ratio, a pattern that repeats itself in nature, has been used in art and architecture since the Renaissance. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci employed geometry and proportion in their masterpieces, showcasing the intrinsic link between these disciplines.
Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. Op art perhaps more closely derives from the constructivist practices of the Bauhaus, a German school that stressed the relationship of form and function within a framework of analysis and rationality. Op art also stems from trompe-l'œil and anamorphosis.
Works described as "op art" were produced several years before the term was coined by Time magazine in 1964. For instance, Victor Vasarely's painting Zebras (1938) is made up entirely of curvilinear black and white stripes not contained by contour lines. Consequently, the stripes appear to both meld into and burst forth from the surrounding background.
Op art is a perceptual experience related to how vision functions. It is a dynamic visual art that stems from a discordant figure-ground relationship that puts the two planes—foreground and background—in a tense and contradictory juxtaposition. Artists create op art in two primary ways. The first, best-known method is to create effects through pattern and line. Often these paintings are black and white or shades of gray (grisaille). Another reaction that occurs is that the lines create after-images of certain colors due to how the retina receives and processes light.
Mathematics and op art are closely related. For example, the geometric shapes and patterns in Kandinsky's paintings can be analyzed mathematically. Students can measure and compare the shapes used, draw conclusions about 2D figures, and create their own artwork inspired by these observations. In addition, op art can be used to teach students about ratios by showing them the ratios used in mixing and blending colors.
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Op art's two primary forms
Op art, short for optical art, is a form of abstract art that uses optical illusions to create visual effects. Artists create op art in two primary ways:
Geometric Forms and Lines
The first and most well-known method is through the use of geometric forms and lines to create optical illusions that suggest motion or vibration. Op art frequently features simple geometric shapes like squares, circles, and triangles, arranged in grids or repeated patterns. Artists may also use interlocking lines that curve rhythmically to add depth to the form. The repetition of shapes and patterns gives the appearance of movement and change, and the use of contrasting colours can create a sense of depth and three-dimensionality.
Colour Juxtaposition
The second method involves the juxtaposition of various colours to create unique and disorienting optical illusions. Artists may use complementary colours, such as blue and orange or red and green, to create the illusion of movement and after-images. Colourful op art employs a variety of hues to produce striking and brilliant visual effects.
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Op art's roots in Bauhaus
Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions to create a sense of movement, hidden images, flashing patterns, and warping. While the antecedents of op art can be traced back to Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism, and Dada, the movement is thought to derive more closely from the constructivist practices of the Bauhaus.
The Bauhaus was a German art school that operated from 1919 to 1933 and was founded by the architect Walter Gropius in Weimar. The school combined crafts and fine arts, emphasizing the integration of form and function and the unification of artistic vision with mass production. This approach had a profound influence on subsequent developments in art, architecture, design, and typography.
The roots of Op art can be found in the teachings and practices of the Bauhaus school. László Moholy-Nagy, a prominent figure at the Bauhaus, taught a course on op art where he had his students create holes in cards and then photograph them. Moholy-Nagy's experiments with the photogram, a term he coined, became icons of Bauhaus experimentation. His work in abstract photography and his focus on the relationship between light and form laid the foundation for the exploration of optical illusions and visual trickery in Op art.
In addition to Moholy-Nagy, several other artists associated with the Bauhaus explored ideas that would later become central to Op art. Josef Albers, another key figure at the Bauhaus, taught a preliminary course that emphasized the importance of details. His work at Black Mountain College and Yale University helped spread the influence of Bauhaus to North America. Artists like Victor Vasarely, considered the grandfather of Op art, and M.C. Escher, also experimented with optical art, playing with graphic shapes, bright colours, and visual deceptions.
The closure of the Bauhaus in 1933 due to political pressure from the Nazi regime led many of its instructors to flee to the United States. This exodus further disseminated the principles of Bauhaus and laid the groundwork for the development of Op art. At Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina, Anni and Josef Albers continued to teach and influence the next generation of artists. Thus, the roots of Op art can be strongly traced back to the teachings, philosophies, and artists of the Bauhaus movement.
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Frequently asked questions
OP stands for Optical Painting or Optical Art.
Op Art is a perceptual experience related to how vision functions. It is a dynamic visual art that creates optical illusions through the use of pattern, line, shape, and colour.
Notable Op Art artists include Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Larry Poons, Jeffrey Steele, Jesús Rafael Soto, and Polly Apfelbaum.
Op Art gained international attention in 1965 with the exhibition "The Responsive Eye" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. However, works now described as Op Art were produced before this, such as Victor Vasarely's 1938 painting "Zebras".
Op Art is often characterised by geometric shapes, patterns, and alternating colours that create illusions of movement and three-dimensional effects. It can be dizzying to look at due to the sophisticated interplay of forms and colours.
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