Optical Illusion Graffiti Creates Portal to a Parallel Universe on the Side of a Building

Parisian graffiti artist Astro contorts flat architectural facades into illusory vortexes with a vibrant graphic twist. His painted patterns combine smooth, swirling curves and calligraphy with sharper shapes in dynamically detailed designs that are eye-catching on their own; and, as if to suck his viewers farther into each piece, he adds the appearance of dark, receding chasms, tunneling deep into the walls.

Astro’s newest work is a massive and arresting mural on a residential building in Loures, Portugal, just south of Lisbon. Created on behalf of urban art project Loures Art Publica, the mind-bending masterpiece uses electric blue tones to create the semblance of shadows, and incorporates the artist’s trademark technique of warped perspective to contrive a fictional abyss. The optical illusion seems to offer entry to a parallel universe, so ordinary passersby might step off the sidewalk into new dimensions of time and space.