Kara-Deu 1973

Victor Vasarely made Kara-Deu with paint, in what looks like a carefully planned process. Just look at the burgundy background! It is so precise! The shapes are neat and hard-edged, no slop in sight, which is probably the opposite of my studio right now. It's interesting how Vasarely sets up this tension between flat shapes and optical illusions, making the painting vibrate. Those black diamonds are really doing something, aren't they? Like, are they pushing forward or receding into space? It makes me think about how much control an artist has, or doesn’t have, over how a viewer perceives their work. Maybe that's the real magic trick here, making us question what we see, and how we see it. It reminds me a little of Bridget Riley, with that same interest in perception and how our eyes play tricks on us.