Lucite Sculptures

Rhomboid, 2001 Laminated acrylic Signed and dated: Vasa / 2001 9.5" H x 4.5" W x 2.5" D (size is approximate) Vasa Velizar Mihich (born 1933), known as Vasa, is an American artist based in Los Angeles, California. Born in Yugoslavia, Vasa has lived in Los Angeles since his arrival in the United States in 1960. He is an academically trained painter and was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA in the Department of Design and Media Arts. He taught theories of color to understand interdependence and interaction of color and form, color and quantity, color and placement, and after-image. In the 1960s, Vasa developed techniques for working with cast laminated acrylic forms based on simple Euclidean shapes. These prisms of luminous construction are created by composing colored planes within these geometric forms. To fully appreciate these works of art, it is essential to observe them from different angles―the sculptures dimensionality contributes to an ever-changing appearance. Now retired as a professor emeritus, Vasa focuses on his conceptual art practice. His studio, designed to accommodate the technology required for his work, is located in the heart of Los Angeles. He makes laminated acrylic sculptures that reflect and refract light. He has had solo exhibitions at galleries in the United States, Japan, Italy and Serbia, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the Palm Springs Desert Museum. Vasa is best known for his sculptures made from colored pieces of the plastic, poly(methyl methacrylate), which is also known as acrylic and by the brand names Plexiglas and Lucite. Untitled from 1975, in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art, demonstrates the effect of these minimalist sculptures. His work straddles the West Coast Light and Space art movement, Artists such as Robert Irwin, James Turrell, John McCracken, Larry Bell, Craig Kauffman, Billy Al Bengston, Peter Alexander, and Lita Albuquerque...

Irregular triangle, 1993 Laminated acrylic Hand signed and dated: Vasa / 1993 4" H x 12" W x 3" D (size is approximate) Vasa Velizar Mihich (born 1933), known as Vasa, is an American artist based in Los Angeles, California. Born in Yugoslavia, Vasa has lived in Los Angeles since his arrival in the United States in 1960. He is an academically trained painter and was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA in the Department of Design and Media Arts. He taught theories of color to understand interdependence and interaction of color and form, color and quantity, color and placement, and after-image. In the 1960s, Vasa developed techniques for working with cast laminated acrylic forms based on simple Euclidean shapes. These prisms of luminous construction are created by composing colored planes within these geometric forms. To fully appreciate these works of art, it is essential to observe them from different angles―the sculptures dimensionality contributes to an ever-changing appearance. Now retired as a professor emeritus, Vasa focuses on his conceptual art practice. His studio, designed to accommodate the technology required for his work, is located in the heart of Los Angeles. He makes laminated acrylic sculptures that reflect and refract light. He has had solo exhibitions at galleries in the United States, Japan, Italy and Serbia, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the Palm Springs Desert Museum. Vasa is best known for his sculptures made from colored pieces of the plastic, poly(methyl methacrylate), which is also known as acrylic and by the brand names Plexiglas and Lucite. Untitled from 1975, in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art, demonstrates the effect of these minimalist sculptures. His work straddles the West Coast Light and Space art movement, Artists such as Robert Irwin, James Turrell, John McCracken, Larry Bell, Craig Kauffman, Billy Al Bengston, Peter Alexander, and Lita Albuquerque...