Barka-Deu 1982

Victor Vasarely made "Barka-Deu" with flat areas of colour, shaped into circles and squares, that seem to bulge out at you like some kind of weird, vibrant geometry. Look closely, and you can see how the colours play tricks on your eyes, making the surface seem to move. I am always fascinated by a painting's surface; is it smooth or rough? How does light bounce off of it? In this piece, the colours are so vivid, so crisp, that they almost vibrate. The orange, blue, pink and green dance together. It is a real push-pull, a back and forth. Vasarely, like Bridget Riley, was onto something about how our brains perceive colour and form, but I also can't help but think about artists like Josef Albers, who was thinking about similar things, but in a much quieter way. Ultimately, art is always a conversation, with artists responding to, and building upon, the ideas of those who came before them.