You won’t believe your eyes when you look at these artists’ works. Illusionists M.C. Escher, street artist Leon Keer, and others turn optical illusions into art. It takes a second look to see what’s really there.One of the most famous artists who included optical illusions in his works was Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. His paintings, said to be “impossible,” have achieved cult status. There show stairs that start and end nowhere; a river that flows both upwards and downwards at once; and hands that are painting one other.
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M.C. Escher’s paintings have fascinated mathematicians and artists alike. They decorate the covers of scientific publications, books on mathematics and records. Even Mick Jagger is said to have personally asked the artist to produce an album cover for him. Escher politely declined. Some of his works were then published without his agreement.
The sheer click numbers of British Youtube sensation Howard Lee show how much people are fascinated by visual illusions. He regularly uploads videos showing objects he rendered so realistically that it’s hard to distinguish the drawings from the real thing. Lee loves to confuse his viewers with his videos, some of which have gained more than two million views.
But Howard Lee is not the only artist to stir attention with his optical illusions. In our High Five ranking, we present other artists like him.
