A Fata Morgana is a well known optical phenomenon that produces illusory mirages. It was named after a sorceress whom, according to legend, lived at the bottom of the Strait of Messina and deluded the seafarers passing through it. The deceptive nature of this phenomenon and the magical aura that surrounds it embody the spirit of this exhibition. The range of artworks assembled under this heading are ones that awaken a sense of wonder – that feeling of enchantment that arises when something is revealed as different than what it appeared to be.

Throughout history, artists used optical manipulations in order to transmit ideas and create various effects. The illusory nature of art, which partakes of its very essence, was regarded in different ways: during the Classical age, painting was denounced by Plato as a form of magical trickery. In medieval Christian thought, optical illusions were associated with the devil, and the study of optics was thus surrounded by an aura of mystery. The most significant convergence between art and optics took place during the Renaissance, when artists specialized in the creation of three־dimensional illusions – most notably perspective and anamorphosis. The tradition of trompe l’oeil paintings, which developed parallel to these inventions, raised philosophical questions concerning the relative nature of truth, the allure of representation and human vanity. During the 17^th and 18^th centuries, artists used optical illusions in order to encode secret images or political messages within their works. Traditional art historical research tended to disregard artworks that were related to the science of optics. Such works were excluded from the canon, and were usually relegated to “cabinets of wonder.”

Modernism negated the concepts of naturalism and of perspectival representation. It attempted to abolish the illusory characteristics of art, and to emphasize the flatness of the picture plane at the expense of its representational content. Among the avant-garde movements of the 20^th century, Surrealism distinguished itself by an affinity for the dark realms of illusion and the absurd, and for optical effects and photographic inventions. The Op Art movement, which grew out of abstract, modernist art, was based on geometric forms that created various illusory effects. Yet while this movement received an unusual amount of popular attention, it enjoyed little intellectual prestige.

It was postmodernism that finally legitimized the preoccupation with optical illusions, which may be related to the undermining of concepts such as truth and objectivity. Indeed, this exhibition examines the growing interest in forms of visual deception and illusion in both Israeli and international art. The common denominator shared by the participating artists is not thematic; rather, it is their use of deceptive effects, of optical enigmas and of illusions that create moments of sheer magic and wonder. Although these works differ from one another in terms of their style and contents, one may detect at their core a shared interest in metaphysical states and philosophical questions concerning the transience of time and of life, the status of “truth” and the nature of chance.