Artwork copyright Francis Celentano. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Spira G, 1988

Francis Celentano
American (born 1928, died 2016)

Location: South Puget Sound Community College, Olympia

About the Artwork

Spira G is an energetic and vibrant painting by artist Francis Celentano. It features vibrant pastel colors painted onto quadrilateral panels. The repeating colors and shapes generate an optical illusion. This illusion causes a unique visual response in each viewer. The artist noted, "The painting can be experienced aesthetically and logically in terms of itself alone without metaphoric reference."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with South Puget Sound Community College.

About the Artist

Francis Celentano (1928-2016) was one of the pioneers of Op Art and a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle for thirty years. He created paintings and sculptures that investigate perception and color theory. Op Art explores how vision functions and the effect on our viewing experience as a result.