Op Art

Current, Bridget Riley, 1964. Synthetic polymer paint on composition board, 58 x 58". MOMA, New York.

An abbreviation of 'optical art', a form of abstract art which developed in the early 1960s and aimed at stimulation of the eye through a radical use of space and color. This was achieved by the employment of hard-edged, flatly painted shapes in black and white or in complementary colors of full intensity. The term 'Op art' was first used in Time magazine in 1964 and had become a household phrase by the following year when the defining exhibition The Responsive Eye was held at the MOMA, NYC. Two of the most prominent Op artists were Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely. Op art exerted a considerable influence on women's fashion in the mid-1960s. (Michael Clarke)

**sorry about the fuzzy photograph!**