Tokyo 1981

Curator: Victor Vasarely’s “Tokyo,” a mixed-media print created in 1981, presents a captivating example of Op Art's engagement with abstraction. Editor: Oh, wow. It's giving me this slightly unsettling but mesmerizing pulse, like staring into a screen, a very retro screen, of course. Curator: Exactly. Op Art thrives on creating visual illusions through geometric patterns. Vasarely, in particular, was interested in how industrial materials and processes could democratize art production. Note how these precise lines and solid colors lend themselves to reproduction. Editor: It does feel incredibly manufactured, almost… machined. And the way he's split the square into four different geometric games. What's with that? Each has its own distinct visual rhythm and color scheme. Is that significant to Tokyo itself, maybe four different faces of the city? Curator: Possibly. Vasarely’s intent was to create a universal visual language. He stripped away traditional representation to focus on pure optical experience, and the multiplicity reflects modern modes of mass production and modularity within design culture. Editor: The materiality adds a coolness to it all. Even with those deep colors – burgundy, blue, indigo. I wonder, were these printed by hand or mechanically? It makes me wonder about the factory or the studio where the artwork was created, the individuals who crafted these silkscreens. I almost sense them there, somehow. Curator: It is essential to consider those hands and that labor within its creation. Vasarely was deeply interested in reproducible art and the possibility of creating art affordable and accessible to the masses, connecting with trends and concepts in design and manufacturing at the time. Editor: But this push-pull feeling. Are my eyes playing tricks on me or did the artist put tricks into the work itself? Well done Vasarely. It really makes me question perception and reality. It makes me reflect on order versus chaos... structure versus freedom. Curator: I agree. “Tokyo” is a complex dialogue between order and the breakdown of visual norms.