Vasarely Tribute – Ramiro Chávez Tovar

Vasarely Tribute – Ramiro Chávez Tovar

Mexican artist Ramiro Chávez Tovar has created two new fantastic Op Art pieces that, like his previous works, play with your visual system and are as a result extremely difficult to look at for any length of time.  Both pieces are exceptional in their ability to create the illusion of movement.

The first of these is a tribute to the great Op Artist Victor Vasarely – ‘Ironic Homage 2 Vasarely’.  If you’re not familiar with what Vasarely looked like, that’s his face buried deep in the artwork.  If you can’t see it, try crossing and uncrossing your eyes and varying the distance between you and the screen.

Ironic Homage 2 Vasarely Ramiro Chávez Tovar

Ironic Homage 2 Vasarely
Ramiro Chávez Tovar

Nested Spaces ii Ramiro Chávez Tovar

Nested Spaces ii
Ramiro Chávez Tovar

Thanks as always to Ramiro for sending these in.  If you want to see more of Ramiro’s work have a look at his deviant art gallery.

 

 

Tom Martinelli @ David Richard Gallery, Santa Fe, USA

Tom Martinelli @ David Richard Gallery, Santa Fe, USA

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I’m a bit late on this one for various reasons, but Tom Martinelli is currently exhibiting at the David Richard Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.  The exhibition features work from the period 1993-1998 and runs until 4th May 2013.

MartinelliT_Untitled_1997_19x181

“Martinelli, a New York City–based artist now lives and works in New Mexico. His art-making practice has largely focused on abstract painting, but more recently has incorporated elements of photography. Martinelli has had numerous solo exhibitions in New York and his artwork included in numerous group exhibitions in New York, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh, among other cities. His paintings have been exhibited internationally in Vienna, Austria, London and Manchester, England. Martinelli has received many grants and fellowships, including the distinguished Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award twice. His artwork has been reviewed in numerous publications including New York Magazine, ARTnews Modern Painters, New York Times, Art + Auction, Review Magazine and THE Magazine.”

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The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm.  Entrance is free.

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David Richard Gallery
Railyard Arts District
544 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501
Tel: 505-983-9555

Op Art Auction Sales in 2012

Op Art Auction Sales in 2012

If you have ever wondered what the big Op Art pieces by the major artists of the movement – such as Bridget Riley, Carlos Cruz-Diez or Victor Vasarely – sell for at auction then look below to see a list of the top 10 hammer prices at auction for Op Art works bought and sold during 2012.

The list is dominated by works by Carlos Cruz-Diez, Briget Riley, Jan Schoonhoven and Victor Vasarely.  All works were auctioned by various international offices of Sotheby’s and Christies.

1. Carlos Cruz-Diez – “PHYSICHROMIE 164” (1965). Estimate (Christies): GBP 164,000-229,000. Actual sale price was GBP473,000.

Carlos Cruz-Diez - Physichromie 164

2. Bridget Riley – “Tabriz” (1984). Estimate (Sotheby’s): GBP 250,000 – 300,000. Actual sale price was GBP 457,250

Bridget Riley - Tabriz

3. Carlos Cruz-Diez – “Chromo-Interference Mécanique” (1979).  Estimate (Sotheby’s): GBP 229,000 – 295,000. Actual sale price was GBP 434,600.

Carlos Cruz-Diez - CHROMO-INTERFERENCEᅠ MÉCANIQUE

4. Carlos Cruz-Diez – “Physichromie no. 1021” (1975).  Estimate (Sotheby’s):  GBP 164,000-229,000. Actual sale price was GBP 363,000.

Carlos Cruz-Diez - Physichromie No. 1.021

5. Bridget Riley – “Cool Place” (1990). Estimate (Sotheby’s):  GBP 280,000-350,000. Actual sale price was GBP 337,250.

Bridget Riley - Cool Place

6. Jan Schoonhoven – “Diagonalen” (1967).  Estimate (Christies): GBP 154,000-188,000. Actual sale price was GBP268,000.

Jan Schoonhoven diagonalen

7. Jan Schoonhoven – “R70-72” (1970).  Estimate (Christies): GBP 171,000-257,000. Actual sale price was GBP268,000.

jan schoonhoven - r70-72

8. Jan Schoonhoven – “Drie In Één (Trois en Un)” (1966).  Estimate (Sotheby’s): GBP 171,000-257,000. Actual sale price was GBP257,000.

jan schoonhoven drie in een trois en un

9. Carlos Cruz-Diez – “Physichromie no. 655” (1973).  Estimate (Sotheby’s):  GBP 115,000-148,000. Actual sale price was GBP 190,000.

carlos cruz-diez - physicromie 655

10. Victor Vasarely – “Cheyt-Stri” (1971).  Estimate (Sotheby’s): GBP 80,000-120,000. Actual sale price was GBP 187,250.

victor vasarely Cheyt-Stri

 

Op Art interior

Op Art interior

With the popularity of Op Art based patterns and styles currently exploding in the fashion world it wasn’t going to be long before that was applied to other areas of design such as home interiors.  South African magazine House and Leisure have created a fascinating modern take on a 1960s room based on high contrast black and white stripes as part of what they call the Op Art Trend.  They’ve also created a time-lapse video so you can see how the effect was achieved.

op art interior

View the post on House and Leisure here.

 

Illusions Video (Part I) – Samm Hodges

Illusions Video (Part I) – Samm Hodges

Samm Hodges has released the first in an 8 part video entitled Illusions.  The opening few minutes shows graphically how some common illusions (such as the spinning dancer and the Necker cube) actually work and is set to some great music by artists like Christian Fennesz.  I’d highly recommend this interesting video.

Illusions (part one) from Animal on Vimeo

Written and Directed by Samm Hodges
Produced by Phinehas Hodges
Director of Photography: Brad Knull
Animation by Samm Hodges and Lenny Wilson
Dancer: Kelsey Bartman
Narrator: Bingo O’Malley
Additional Photography: Matt Meehan
Edited by Samm Hodges
Production Company: Animal
Shot on location in Santiago, Chile and Pittsburgh, PA.