Op Art at the Museo del Barrio

My first encounter with the term "Op Art" was shortly after I'd graduated from college. A friend referred to a dress I owned as my "Op Art dress", which I promptly started mis-naming my "Art Deco dress". John gently corrected me (read: mocked me within an inch of my life) and I never mixed them up again. (Ask Prof. Lyle Novinski - art history was never my forte.) I now live in a city which is absolutely filled with great Art Deco buildings, and I was delighted to discover The Illusive Eye exhibition during my first visit to El Museo del Barrio.

I'd heard great things about the Museo from my friend Nicolle, but I'd never ventured up there to check it out. It's a surprisingly tiny museum. The Illusive Eye exhibition, though, was terrific. It's on display until May 21st, so if you're an Op Art fan, add it to you to-do list for NYC.

"Labyrinths and mirrors, hallucinatory machines in dervish gyration, hypnotic oculi and rapturous mandalas...kinetic forms in parrallax mystery" (whatever that means). Frank Stella, Josef Albers, Bridget Riley, Carmen Herrera...these were familiar names. But Martha Boto? I'd never heard of her. But this piece (can you see me reflected in it?) really caught my eye. Even more so once the guard turned it on and the discs started spinning. You'll have to check out my Instagram feed if you want to see it in action. Note to self: figure out how to upload videos to this blog...

Other pieces that I really enjoyed...This one made beautiful reflections on the floor as the pieces rotated and swayed in the air. (I don't know who the artist is; I forgot to make a note. But you can see Eduardo Mac Entyre's Seis Formas en Dos Circunferencias through it on the left, and a Frank Stella painting in the distance on the right.)

I couldn't take my eyes off of this Tony Bechara work. I kept looking for patterns in the colors.

Victor Vasarely's Napaura made me think of the psychedelic 60's.

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This Julio Le Parc piece (Continuel Lumiere) is three-dimensional, the small mirrored pieces extending from the wall and reflecting the lights in cool patterns.

A lot of them lose their impact in the photograph. You can't see the way this Alberto Biasi piece changes as you move from left to right, though the target in the center wasn't visible to me when I was looking at the piece itself.

Other pieces have a bigger impact in the photo. The Marina Appolonio piece below, Spazio Ad Attivazione Cinetica 6B, is a completely flat image. You can walk on it, look at it from all angles, but you only get the 3D impact when you take a photo of it. (A very friendly, helpful guard pointed this out to me.)

Once I'd made it through the Illusive Eye, I went in search of the permanent collection. I thought I'd read somewhere that they had a couple of Velasquez paintings, which I was excited to see. I realize now that a museum of Latin American, Puerto Rican and Caribbean art would have no reason to have  anything by Velasquez, so I tried to find the article online. Apparently, it's Eduardo Velazquez they had in a recent show. (I've told you I don't know anything about art!) The permanent collection that was on view was a series of recent acquisitions. The only one I photographed was titled El Jardin del Amor, and that was only because it's an old family joke between Sheila and me. :)

I had been hoping to eat at the restaurant (another Nicolle recommendation), but it's undergoing renovations, so I was out of luck. I guess I'll just have to plan a return trip...