Zèbres-A
Victor Vasarely
VICTOR VASARELY, 1938. INK ON PAPER
Vasarely is the undisputed father of Op art, responsible for transforming the two dimensional planes of art history into fluid, kinetic, mesmerizing works. By the 1970s, his style of optical trickery was everywhere, gracing the covers of David Bowie albums and the bonnets of Renault cars. But in 1938, Vasarely was still a young, unknown member of the Bauhaus school and it was the zebra that gave him his entry into a brave new world of art-making. The monochromatic markings spoke to Vasarely, the undulation of form that contorted perspective offered him a way of thinking about flat planes. His style quickly developed away from the zebras into increasingly complicated, geometric forms of illusion. But here, in the simple fight of equine figures, he laid the foundation of a new dimension.