Alphabet VR 1960

Victor Vasarely made "Alphabet VR" with paint. The image is a structured grid of interlocking forms painted in a palette of oranges, reds, and blues. It’s so neat and tidy, you know? I bet he used tape to get these perfectly hard edges – or maybe not, but it’s fun to imagine the patience that would take. The painting feels very intentional, like he’s exploring how colors and shapes interact, and almost vibrate against each other. When I look at it, I think about the way certain shapes and hues feel like letters, and how they create a new language of seeing that relates to his other geometric abstractions. Vasarely makes me think about how all us painters are in conversation, borrowing and responding to each other’s vocabularies. His legacy lives on, influencing artists to this day.