Maab Studio d`Arte are currently running an exhibition of the works of first-generation Op Artist Alberto Biasi.

Politipo – Alberto Biasi – 1972 – 60cm x 60cm

The exhibition is comprised of works from his ‘Polytypes’ series.  Given that most of the works come from private collections it was no mean feat to collect together the works for the exhibition.

The Polytypes series was started in the 1960s and was a series that Biasi revisited in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.  With each visit, the series changed an became increasingly articulated, but the essential characteristic remains which is the creation of the perception of movement created by the subtle movements of the observer.

Insieme – Alberto Biasi – 1991 – 80x75cm

Alberto Biasi featured recently in shows such as “Italian Zero & Avangarde ’60s” at the Museum Multimedia Art in Moscow and in Rome at the National Gallery of Modern Art in the exhibition “Art Kinetic and Programmed by Munari, Biasi, Colombo…”

Un Insieme Geometrico – Alberto Biasi – 2010 – 78x74cm

The exhibition is on from October 13, 2012 to November 16, 2012.

Maab: Riviera San Benedetto 15, 35141 Padova, Italy

Entrance is free.  Wednesday to Saturday from 16.30 to 19.30 or by appointment.

You can see some more of Alberto Biasi in the Op Art Gallery

The Laura Russo Gallery in Portland Oregon, USA is currently running an exhibition by Seattle based ‘first-generation’ Op Artist Francis Celentano.

In the 1960s Francis was the Professor of Painting at the University of Washington and it was there that he began to develop his interest in color theory.  This interest in turn led to his Op Art style of painting.  Francis was quickly recognised as being an important artist in the Op Art movement and his work was featured in the hugely influential exhibition ‘The Responsive Eye’.  More recently, Francis’s work was featured in two major Op Art retrospectives: “Optic Nerve: Perceptual Art of the 1960s” (Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio) and “After Image: Op Art of the 1960s” (Loretta Howard Gallery, New York).

Francis is alive and well today and is still actively painting.

“Seattle artist Francis Celentano’s latest exhibition The Gemini Series presents mesmerizing images that further cement his position in the history of and resurgent interest in Op Art. In this show, Celentano’s acrylic paintings involve the concept of overlapping two identical patterns, and reorienting. He explored the pattern relationships initially using a computer program, and then migrating the designs to his paintings. The series evolves from the intersection of grey and white patterns, to a transformation through a variety of color ranges including blues, greens and reds. As a whole, The Gemini Series of fused patterns generates a dramatic tension in a variety of ways expressed differently by each painting”

Laura Russo Gallery – 805 NW 21st Ave., Portland Oregon, 97209

Tue – Fri 11 – 5:30, Saturday 11 – 5, & by Appointment. Entrance is free.