Op Art is an early 20th century art movement in which the focus is optical illusion. That being said, most op artists do not merely make their art for the sake of tricking the eye. For them, it is an exploration of chromatic tension and perspective illusion. Indeed, the most popular paintings have been done in black and white, such as Bridget Riley’s “Intake,” yet this is merely because the simple contrast of these colors brings more attention to the juxtaposition and mathematical flow of lines. In a technical sense, op art is to painting as mathcore is to music.
Bridget Riley’s “Intake”
Though it appeared almost simultaneously in Europe and the United States during the late 1950’s, Op Art can be traced back as far as 1945, to Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher. Escher often experimented with perspective, the best example of which can be seen in his 1955 lithograph “Convex and Concave.” 
Works Cited:
- “ArtLex on Op Art.” 2009. ArtLex.com
<http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/o/opart.html>
- Esaak, Shelley “Op Art- Art History 101 Basics.” 2009. About.com
<http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/op_art.htm>
- “Op Art (Optical Art).” 2009. Huntfor.com
<http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/opart.htm>
Photos:
- Riley, Bridget “Intake.” 1964.
Retrieved from: <http://www.ubu.com/aspen/aspen3/powers.html#riley>
- Escher, Maurits C. “Convex and Concave.” 1955.
Retrieved from: <img2.allposters.com/images/20/PRO9ESC.JPG>
