John Vickery: Between the Lines

Overview

Op art, the playful successor to pop art, is reminiscent of the eye-fatiguing Magic Eye craze of the '90s. It never really took off in Australia, but one little-known Oz exponent of op art, John Vickery (1906-1983), was a major fan. He worked primarily as a commercial artist but in his spare time enjoyed the optical dazzle of alternating stripes and undulating patterns. A selection of Vickery's most optically outrageous paintings are on display at the Victorian College of the Arts until March.

This is the person whose artistic legacy and altruistic bequest led in 2003 to the establishment of the John Vickery Scholarships, which provide two third-year students with financial support to assist in the often costly practice of producing work for final assessment. A man who created visual magic and is remembered through the act of helping struggling young artists make ends meet — surely, worth a look in.

Go play with your own sensory perception and enjoy the oscillating black and white stripes as they come alive between your eyes.