[OP ART IN TURKEY] Op Art: Modern Sanat Semineri. [i.e. Op Art: Modern Art Seminar]

Prep. by BALAMIR ALI GÜVEN, (Turkish architect); KUTLU ALEMDAR, (Turkish architect).

Privately Published., Istanbul, [ca. 1968].

Contemporary blue cloth bdg. 4to. (30 x 21 cm). In Turkish with English and German visual material. 14, [1] p., 17 b/w and colour plates. Mimeographed on both sides of folded thick paper. 

A unique mimeograph compilation in book form, prepared to introduce the concept of Optical Art to Turkey. The cover is designed in collage using cut-and-paste materials, with the handwritten title “Op Art” placed within a central elliptical field on an orange thick paper by both artists. The plates are xerox reproductions drawn from a range of contemporary American art magazines, as well as periodicals of various kinds, including Playboy, and German advertisements reflecting the visual language of Optical Art.

This unique copy, prepared for the introduction of Op Art to the Turkish audience and likely intended for publication in book form, was never ultimately published. Compiled and written by contemporary Turkish architects Güven and Alemdar, both experts in urbanization, the book contains nine chapters in addition to the plates: History of Op-Art; Optical Effects: Black and White; Optical Effects: Color; Reliefs, Moving Objects, and Light; Special Joint Characteristics in 'Op'; 'Op' and Other Art Genres; Leading Names in the European School of 'Op'; British and American 'Op'; Critics; and Plates. The text opens with a historical overview of the movement and refers to a 1964 interview published in Time magazine, using as its point of departure the artist’s response to the question, "Would you describe yourself as a Pop artist?", to which he replied, "I am an Op artist". It notes that some theorists trace the origins of the movement to Neo-Impressionism and proceeds to broaden the scope through a series of subsections (following Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism), including Orphism and Synchronism, Suprematism and Rayonism, and Neo-Plasticism. After examining the particular significance of black and white in the optical effects of the movement, the text analyses its structural principles under the headings of periodic structure, discontinuous structure, and the effects of radiation and diffusion. Within this framework, key artworks of the innovative Optical style of the 1960s are discussed, including Celentano by Marina Apollonio (b. 1940), Eridan-C33 by Victor Vasarely (1906-1997), and Straight Curve by Bridget Riley (b. 1931).

We couldn’t find any copies in OCLC and the Turkish National Library.