Combining meticulous artistry, subtle humor, and rigorous attention to the physical behavior of imaginary substances, M. C. Escher (Dutch, 18981972) created worlds whose absurd, impeccably principled physics and rogue geometries mock our perception of spatiality. A flat aqueduct improbably rises upward, creating a waterfall. Birds slowly emerge from undefined shapes and take flight. Interlocking creatures march in endless patterns, the artists homage to the tiles of the Moorish palace, the Alhambra. Escher took delight in confounding
