Mind Bending Optical Illusions

Strok's Shadows of Figures Walking on School Walls
Using his signature technique of multi-layered stencils, Norwegian-based street artist Anders Gjennestad, also known as Strøk, creates photorealistic images that fool the eye. They distort perspective using strong shadows and gives the illusion that people are walking up walls.





Aakash Nihalani's Neon Shapes Pierce Human Torsos
New York-based artist Aakash Nihalani has moved away from his previously admired interior and landscape tape illusions and has turned towards human subjects as his newest canvas. In his series, Landline, Nihalani cleverly pierces human torsos throughout Brooklyn with three-dimensional isometric rectangles and squares made out of neon tape.





Deteriorating Swimming Pool by Jeroen Bisscheroux
The pool that artist Jeroen Bisscheroux crafted isn’t the type that you’d swim in. Instead, it’s a completely flat art installation and optical illusion. The carpet-like painting is titled POOL, loss of color and it depicts a nearly empty, deteriorating swimming pool.





Optical Illusion Drawings by Ramon Bruin
Dutch artist Ramon Bruin, aka JJK Airbrush, is a master at creating optical illusion drawings that blur the line between art and reality. Bruin, who is mostly self-taught, brings his anamorphic drawings to life by photographing them at precise angles, making the subjects appear to pop right off the page.





Bold Tattoo That Makes You Do a Double-Take by Paul O'Rourke
Paul O’Rourke of Allstar Ink in Limerick, Ireland created this clever tattoo that will definitely make you do a double take. The swirling column that’s inked on his client’s arm appears to dip into two deep crevasses of the skin. From first glance, it seems like you could grab onto the “handle” of this person’s lower bicep.





Levitating Building in London by Alex Chinneck
his surreal architectural sculpture, entitled Take My Lightning But Don't Steal My Thunder, is a mind-blowing piece in which a section of a building appears to be levitating in mid-air. Created by British artist and designer Alex Chinneck, the large-scale optical illusion sits directly in Covent Garden in London and was modeled after the original architecture of the184-year old Market Building.