Tsikos C 1989

This piece by Victor Vasarely, titled Tsikos C, is all about the relationship between simple black and white stripes and depth, the positive and negative. Imagine how the artist’s mind worked to reduce the image of a zebra to these essential forms. What might it have been like to try to capture a figure in a way that almost tips into abstraction? I’m thinking about how he might have been influenced by artists like Bridget Riley. Her optical illusions create a similar kind of disorientation. They share an interest in perception and how the eye and mind can be tricked into seeing things that aren't really there. There's a conversation going on between artists across time and place. Each building on what came before, trying to see the world in new ways. Paintings don't give us fixed answers. Instead, they open up possibilities.