10 August, 2005

central desert optical art




desert vibrations

"The eye can travel over the surface in a way parallel to the way it moves over nature. It should feel caressed and soothed, experience frictions and ruptures, glide and drift…One moment there will be nothing to look at and the next second the canvas seems to refill, to be crowded with visual events." said British artist Bridget Riley of her paintings. Riley is the foremost contemporary practitioner of the op art movement pioneered by artists such as Victor Vasarely in the 1950s.

Riley's description of her work, could as easily apply to those by the nine central Australian desert artists whose work features in this exhibition. With their finely wrought lines, circles and juxtaposed colours, these paintings shimmer with the kind of vibrant illusion which characterise the best of Western op art.

more



No comments: