Agam Mural

“Complex Vision” - The Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital Complex Vision is the large kinetic mural that adorns the front of the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital which is located on the corner of 18th Street and University Boulevard. It was created and produced by Yaacov Agam, an internationally famous artist, the son of an Israeli rabbi.

In 1969 the Art Committee of the Callahan Eye Foundation trustees William H. Hulsey, Carl Jernigan, and Dr. Alston Callahan began a search for an artiest to do a major work for the facade of the building. Agam, a pioneer and creator of kinetic painting in contemporary art, was selected.

The most striking feature of the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital's University Boulevard facade is "Complex Vision." The 30-foot by 30-foot three dimensional mural was created by the renowned artist Yaacov Agam. Designed to intrigue and catch the eye, both the mural's shapes and colors change as you walk or drive by it.

“Complex Vision” actually changes as you walk or drive past it on Birmingham’s University Boulevard. If you approach the painting from the east, you see a black and white geometric pattern resembling an animated chess design. As your angle of vision becomes less acute, flecks of color begin to appear, then disappear. Standing in front of the building, you see interlocking blue squares in a colorful orchestration, and then dancing shapes of black and strong primary colors on white. As you continue toward the west, the black finally begins to fade and the primary colors crowd into vivid vertical movement.

The artist created the painting’s special effect by having 138 individual vertical strips of aluminum arranged in accordion fashion and the opposing faces painted black and white with red, blue and yellow.

The idea of having the viewer involved actively rather than passively in the work of art is central to Agam’s philosophy. His sculptures, for example, can be changed and rearranged or set in motion by the viewer, who becomes a participant in the act of creation. According to Michael Ragon, one of many authors who have written about Agam, the artist has added time, the fourth dimension, to works of art.

With “Complex Vision” you don’t have to know anything about art to enjoy it; you don’t even have to know what you like. The painting is a visual pleasure that can be appreciated as an elaborate experience, as an exercise in optics, or as something pleasurable to view.

The money for “Complex Vision” was donated by individuals; none came from Callahan Eye Foundation funds or from money used for patient care. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Engel donated the construction cost in memory of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. N. Saloman and Mr. and Mrs. William P. Engel (the late Mr. Engel was Chairman of the Building Committee of the original Eye Hospital constructed in 1963); Mr. Jernigan and Mr. Hulsey were also major donors. The sculpture was fabricated and set in place by the Brice Building Company.