CHARI 1976

This artwork titled CHARI by Victor Vasarely presents a mesmerizing dance of colourful circles on a black background that bends reality right before your eyes. I can imagine Vasarely meticulously plotting out each of these shapes, maybe even using stencils to get that perfect, clean edge. There is a mathematical quality to this work, a kind of rational, calculated approach. I see Op Art as part of a wider history of painters experimenting with perception, not unlike the Impressionists with their dappled light, or even the Fauves with their shocking colour combinations. The way the circles morph and shift reminds me that painting doesn't have to be about representation. It can be about pure sensation, about tricking the eye and bending the mind. It's a reminder that artists are always in conversation with one another, across time and space, pushing the boundaries of what painting can be.