Paris-Tokyo #4 1980

Victor Vasarely made 'Paris-Tokyo #4' with paint, constructing an image that pulses and recedes. It's all about color and the optical illusion, but I find myself looking at how the circles touch, don’t touch, how the colors next to each other make different effects. The surface is super smooth, which is part of the point, right? It's not about the hand of the artist, it's about the effect on your eye. Look at how the circles in the middle of each plane are stretched, creating this sense of depth, and how the colors shift to enhance the illusion. The way he’s organized the individual parts is so precise. This kind of visual trickery reminds me a little bit of Bridget Riley, but with a hard edge. Ultimately, it makes you think about how much our perception is constructed, rather than simply received.