Tekers-MC 1981

This is Victor Vasarely’s Tekers-MC, and the first thing that grabs you is how flat it is, yet how much it feels like it’s popping out at you. It’s all about line and color, working together to create this optical vibration. Look closely, and you’ll see that each curve and angle is made up of these thin, colorful stripes – pink, green, blue, orange – all neatly stacked together. The way Vasarely plays with these colors against the dark ground, it’s almost like the painting is breathing. There's a section near the top right where the lines form a tight circle, it feels like a little black hole, sucking you in. Vasarely was really into this idea of art as something that could change the way we see the world. You can see a similar approach in the work of Bridget Riley, who also experimented with patterns and optical effects. Art is always a conversation, right? Always building on what came before, and always open to new ways of seeing.