Alphabet VR 1960

This is Victor Vasarely’s *Alphabet VR*, it’s a painting made in a square format with geometric forms. It’s so much fun to see how Vasarely approaches mark-making, making it look like anyone could do it - though of course, they can’t! The surface of this work is so smooth, the colour is so opaque. I am curious about how it was made - was it sprayed or rolled, or was it painted with a brush? Whatever he did, the color is so even, it creates this very cool surface. The whole image is made up of squares, and it looks like he used a stencil for the circles. I really like the way that this allows the shapes to nestle against each other. Vasarely’s project reminds me of artists like Bridget Riley or Josef Albers, who were similarly interested in the way that geometric abstraction could trigger optical illusions. It’s a pretty neat trick to see how simple shapes can create complex experiences, don't you think?