Wikipedia characterizes an optical illusion as “visually perceived images that differ from objective reality.”

Emily was browsing through Flickr the other day and came across the above image by LLLearner. When she showed it to me, I was really captivated by how a static image can appear to move. You will notice that if you stare at the artwork straight on, nothing will happen. It’s when you move your eyes that the shapes begin to rotate.

You can see more of LLLearner’s optical illusion artwork such as Wave and Wavy on Flickr.

This artistic style has really taken off just over the past few decades. It is a relativley new genre and is most often referred to as Op Art. The way Op Art functions is by artists creating “two planes to be in a tense and contradictory juxtaposition.” It is amazing how artists can create in this way.

Fascinated, I clicked on over to Imagekind to do a quick search. I wanted to see if any of our member artists had a similar style. I found quite a few. Though they vary in effect, they are all really captivating.

Check out some of the Optical Illusion artwork I found:

Optical Illusion Art: Laser Wood by JaNell Golden

Optical Illusion Artwork: Opt Illusion by Beth Marie Lee

Op Art: Liquid Light by Holly Johnson

One of the greatest optical illusion artists was M.C. Escher who was fascinated by math, in relation to art. Two of his most famous pieces include Drawing Hands and Waterfall. Both images portray improbable situations that at first glance appear almost possible. Like all optical illusions, his artwork is not always what you first perceive.

This artistic style is really fascinating to me, so, if you have any others to share, let’s see em! Whether it’s your own or another artists’, post a comment with the URL back to the image and let me know what you like about it.

Find Op art on Imagekind!