AVYBA 1988

Curator: My first thought is the ambition. There’s a dizzying quality that almost seems to jump right off the canvas. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is "AVYBA" created by Victor Vasarely in 1988, rendered in acrylic. Its relentless geometric patterning makes for quite a visual effect. Curator: And a very considered effect, I suspect. Looking closely at those geometric shapes, I’m intrigued by Vasarely’s focus on such controlled application of paint. How much labor goes into achieving that smoothness and regularity? It is meant to be an easy, eye-popping trick, but one done with painstaking skill. Editor: Precisely, Vasarely’s work became synonymous with Op Art. How do you see his work in dialogue with the socio-political context? This was a time of rapid technological advancement and shifting perceptions of reality. Was Vasarely reflecting, or perhaps even shaping, these changes? Curator: I see a negotiation between the hand and mass production here. While undeniably crafted by hand, there's something about the regularity, even the potential for reproducibility, that resonates with industrial processes. Is this art destined to adorn gallery walls, or is it also fit for wallpaper and textiles? It challenges those rigid art-versus-design hierarchies. Editor: I wonder, too, how Vasarely perceived the role of the gallery itself. Was it a necessary intermediary for encountering the work, or did he imagine "AVYBA" directly integrated into public spaces, into the architecture itself? And who ultimately controls those access points? Curator: I feel the pulse of the workshop and assembly line deeply embedded within it. It is not solely the artist's singular vision but the entire infrastructure of art-making on display, the materials chosen, the process adopted. Editor: A compelling piece indeed, reminding us of the fascinating interplay between artistic intent, material realities, and the spaces in which art operates, and those who decide its accessibility. Curator: Precisely, I will leave here questioning more than initially expected.