JOHN VICKERY | UNTITLED (CONFETTI SERIES)

Vickery developed his paintings in the same spirit of other Op artists of his generation, using a deep understanding of color theory and composition to create works that subtly vibrate and pulsate, heightening the viewer's sensory perceptions and deepening the process of looking. Considering his works hard edge geometry, one would be surprised to learn that the Australian artist was part of the famed 1950s New York School, among some of the great Abstract Expressionists of the time, such as Philip Guston, Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell and Willem de Kooning. But the artist broke away from this movement to pursue Op Art, trading the visceral mark of expressionism for a more minimal approach to art-making, valuing form over content and the eye above all else. Vickery exhibited with Allan Stone in the early 1970s, and the artist’s work represents a strong faction of minimalism in The Allan Stone Collection. Vickery's work is in such notable public collections as the National Gallery of Australia; the National Gallery of Victoria; Queensland Art Gallery; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; Victorian College of the Arts; the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton; and the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, among others.