An abréviation of 'optical art', a form of abstract art which developed in the early 1960's and aimed at stimulation of the eye through a radical use of space and colour. This was achieved by the deployment of hard edged, flatly painted shapes in black and white or in complementary colours of full intensity. The term 'Op art' was first used in Time magazine in 1964 and had become a household phrase by the following year when the defining exhibition The Responsive Eye was held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Two of the most prominent Op artists were Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely. Op art exerted a considerable influence on women's fashion in the mid-1960's
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