Richard Anuszkiewicz is considered one of the original founders of the Op Art movement, the style of painting in the second half of the twentieth century that explored the nature of color and visual perception through the use of simple linear forms and geometric shapes.
Anuszkiewicz’s (pronounced Ah-nuhss-KAY-vitch) print series Inward Eye consists of eleven serigraphs or silk-screened images on paper, each with individual folios. This series offers an interesting complement to art typically regarded as rational and scientific. Each image is accompanied by the words of the 1800s visionary poet and artist William Blake, whose imaginative views were counter to the rationalists of his day. In these selections, Blake’s principal argument is that divinity is humanity released from the limitations of reason. The process for doing this intensifies the bodily senses, allowing the physical world to be transfigured.
*On a personal note, I took a look at these works the other day, and they are really quite surprisingly lovely. Usually I tend to consign Op Art to the same pile I place psychedelic art in. But these works are kind of expansive, and though they clearly took a certain kind of rigor to compose and complete, they are not exhausting in any kind of way. Worth the $3.00 admission or whatever it is to get to the 3rd(?) floor during Artwalk.
Incidentally, this edition of the Inward Eye is a recent acquisition to its permanent collection. It was a gift from Lu Ann Bear in memory of Jack and Marcelle Bear.
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