Op Art

What we see may be more
than meets the eye. 

In the 1960s, Op Art (or Optical Art) arose simultaneously across the globe, from the United States to Europe to South America. Op artists created work that elicits unexpected sensory effects using contrasting colors, optical illusions, and the phenomenon of after-images. During this period, the study of phenomenology — the experience of consciousness — was evolving. Scientists developed technologies for mapping brain activity and studying glitches that occur in how we process visual stimuli.

Artists drew upon this research to produce works of art that mimic perceptual glitches. At the same time, “consciousness expanding” experimentation with psychedelics became popular, leading to experimentation in many other areas of cultural life. Artists began creating disorienting patterns that appear to distort, pulse, or switch color, a style that became known as psychedelia. As a result of these scientific and social developments, artists exploited the idiosyncrasies of perception in their practice to create a new style of abstract art that became a worldwide phenomenon.

Drawn from the permanent collection of the Art Center, the works on view were acquired at the height of the Op movement in the 1960s and 70s. Op Art: Abstract Illusion considers this pivotal historical moment, asking how what we see may be more than meets the eye.

Bill Komodore (American, 1932 – 2012)
Circe #10, 1965-1966
Screenprint on paper
Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Purchased with funds from Rose F. Rosenfield, 1967.42
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines