PERCEPTION IS ART NOW

Op Art aims to blow minds. A genre based on the quest for graphic or optical illusion, Op Art surfaced and developed in the 1960’s, but has been experiencing a recent renaissance.

Contemporary Op Art expands upon the concept of visual trickery by adding layers of technical and conceptual sophistication. We are showcasing the beautiful works of 4 contemporary artists who each express Op Art in especially fascinating works. We include their Artist Statements below.

MAUREEN MCQUILLAN

New York based artist Maureen McQuillan turns to scientific and technological systems as the underlying philosophy for her artwork.

McQuillan provokes her viewers’ perception of color, noting that color has become less a reflection of nature and more device specific in the 21st century. What we see is largely dependent on the monitor or printer it is produced from.

She explores color systematically, comparing her techniques to Sudoku - substituting number placements with color arrangements as she builds each composition according to her personal color theory.

McQuillan’s labor-intensive method requires slowly and repetitively laying ink lines in layers of acrylic polymer. Manipulating these agents to fold and bend into ribboned spirals, the colorful optic patterns left behind seemingly reverberate beyond the surface. Color is celebrated as subjective - interpreted through the eyes of the viewer.

See more of Maureen McQuillan work on Artsy.

Maureen McQuillan is represented by Laura Korman Gallery.

PATRICK HUGHES

When the principles of perspective are reversed and solidified into sculpted paintings something extraordinary happens; the mind is deceived into believing the impossible, that a static painting can move of its own accord.”

Hughes' work is concerned with optical and visual illusions, the science of perception and the nature of artistic representation.

He has written and collated three books on the visual and verbal rhetoric of the paradox and oxymoron, including “A New Perspective.”

See more Patrick Hughes works on Artsy.

Patrick Hughes is represented by Flowers.

ERIN O’KEEFE

Erin O’Keefe is a visual artist and an architect. Her work explores both the specific properties of photography and many of the material and theoretical concerns of architecture.

She is in conversation with a lineage of photographers from Florence Henri and others in the early 20th century to Barbara Kasten, who started exhibiting in the early 1970s, to contemporaries who are also examining photography on an elemental level specific to the digital age.

See more of Erin O’Keefe work on Artsy.

Erin O’Keefe is represented by Denny Gallery.

1010

Polish-born but based in Germany since he was 8 years old, Martin (1010) is known for his enigmatic "portals" that are displayed on the walls of major cities around the world. The murals give the illusion of being "holes in the wall."

The work of 1010 is recognized worldwide for its uniqueness and its ability to manipulate the viewer's vision, creating the illusion of 3D hollow colorful portals, crossing walls, and urban spaces.

Recently, 1010 created a piece covering 4500 m² of a section of the motorway in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, using 400 liters of paint.

See more of 1010 work on Artsy.

1010 is represented by Marion Gallery,

Read more about Beautiful Perceptions in Beautiful Perceptions On the Street Now, Extra Senses Make Life More Beautiful Now and Multi-Sensory Taste is Beautiful Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Maureen McQuillan. Untitled.
2. Image: by Maureen McQuillan. Untitled.
3. Image: by Maureen McQuillan. Untitled.
4. Image: by Maureen McQuillan. Untitled.
5. Image: by Maureen McQuillan. Untitled.
6. Image: by Maureen McQuillan. Untitled.
7. Image: by Patrick Hughes. “Matisse Matters.”
8. Image: by Patrick Hughes. “Double Edged.”
9. Image: by Patrick Hughes. “Pleasure Island.”
10. Image: by Patrick Hughes. “Purism.”
11. Image: by Erin O’Keefe. “Tata 12.”
12. Image: by Erin O’Keefe. “The Flatness #6.”
13. Image: by Erin O’Keefe. "Empty (Grey, Aqua, Pink, Side Light).”
14. Image: by 1010. Untitled.
15. Image: by 1010. Untitled.
16. Image: by 1010. Untitled.
17. Image: by 1010. Untitled.
18. Image: by Patrick Hughes. “The Great Wall.”
19. Image: by BN App - Download now!
20. Image: by Erin O’Keefe. “Tata 6.”