Yabla 1961

Here we have Vasarely’s ‘Yabla,’ a black and white painting with a blue border, made with incredible precision. Imagine the artist setting up this composition on the canvas, shifting lines and shapes, going back and forth as he adjusted the geometric forms! It seems like Vasarely was really trying to create a kind of optical illusion. What happens when you stare at it for a while? Do you get a little dizzy? I can really feel how the lines are pushing against each other, creating movement. Painting is a funny thing. It's about surfaces, and how they affect what we think we see. And it's also about how artists keep working on the ideas of artists who came before them. It’s a back and forth, a constant dialogue. We stand on the shoulders of giants, or maybe we just push them out of the way to make our own space!