July 18, 2008 - Jan 25, 2009
If your summer travels happen to take you near Buffalo, NY, this year, be sure to head to the Albright-Knox museum. Aside from the gallery's already impressive collection (over 6,500 works of modern and contemporary art), the facility is also housing a terrific Op Art Exhibit -- starting today.
Whether or not you're familiar with the term "Op Art" (also known as "Optical Art"), you've probably seen works by many of the genre's most popular artists, like M. C. Escher, Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely. Like it sounds, Op Art offers the viewer some sort of optical illusion, whether hidden images or a sensation of movement, swelling or flashing. In a nutshell, it's pretty trippy stuff! Here's a fun one by Riley:
There's a distinctly mathematical quality to all Op Art. Clearly, the artists have a strong sense of proportion, ratio and pattern, and how to manipulate depth, perspective and space using shapes, lines and color. The famous M. C. Escher was known for his mathematical prowess:
The Albright-Knox's Op Art exhibit lasts through most of January, and it's pretty dazzling. If you're shuffling off to Buffalo, don't miss it!
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