Jean-Pierre Yvaral

Jean-Pierre Vasarely (1934–2002), professionally known as Yvaral, was a French artist working in the fields of op-art and kinetic art from 1954 onwards. He was the son of Victor Vasarely.

Life and work

Yvaral studied graphic art and publicity at the Ecole des Arts Appliques between 1950 and 1953. In 1960, Yvaral co-founded the Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visual (GRAV) with Julio Le Parc, François Morellet, Francisco Sobrino, Horacio Garcia Rossi and Joel Stein, seeking to develop a coherent abstract visual language composed of simple geometric elements.

In 1975 he coined the phrase 'Numerical Art' to describe artwork composed (or programmed) according to numerical rules or algorithms. From this time onwards he used computers to digitally process and manipulate images, although the final images were always hand painted. He used this technique to produce several series of portraits starting from instantly recognisable images, such as the face of Marilyn Monroe, and processing them to the point where they become abstract compositions, while the original image remains recognisable.

Death

He died on August 2, 2002, aged 68 and was survived by his widow, Michèle Taburno.

References

• Overview
• Biography
• Biography in Tate catalogue
• Holzhey, Magdalena, Vasarely (Taschen: 2005) ISBN 3-8228-3908-6

External links

• Official site published by Michèle Vaserely (in French)
• Images (Portraits)
• Yvaral biography
• Yvaral prints

Op art Artists Yaacov Agam Josef Albers Getulio Alviani Richard Anuszkiewicz Carlos Cruz-Diez Gerhard von Graevenitz Julio Le Parc Bridget Riley Arnold Alfred Schmidt Francisco Sobrino Jesús Rafael Soto Julian Stanczak Gregorio Vardanega Victor Vasarely Yvaral Color theory Figure–ground François Morellet Hard-edge painting M. C. Escher Optical illusion