Optical illusions are at the very core of pictorial art that over the thirty centuries of its existence has always been, in one way or another, ‘deceiving’ the eye of the viewer. Our exhibition Focusfest organized at the outdoor space along the left fasade of the Manege Central Exhibition Hall presents some of the most remarkable pieces of the art of illusion.
The viewer’s eye is pivotal to the creation of an artwork. It is its key recipient, it evolves with the art and is educated by the development of the art. A classical pictorial illusion known to everyone from early age is the fireplace with a pot at Papa Carlo’s house from The Adventures of Buratino by Alexey Tolstoy. The fireplace only appears to be real, while in fact it conceals a tiny secret passage to the other marvellous reality. Just as Buratino, a contemporary art viewer holds the ‘golden key’ to artistic illusions. Yet, in the world that produces myriads of images per second, the viewer has no resource to reality check all of them, and today, this function is performed by the contemporary art.
