Bridget Riley: Past into Present

Description

"I am sometimes asked 'What is your objective' and this I cannot truthfully answer. I work 'from' something rather than 'towards' something. It is a process of discovery." Since 1961, Riley has focused exclusively on seemingly simple geometric forms, such as lines, circles, curves, and squares, arrayed across a surface-whether a canvas, wall, or paper-according to an internal logic. The resulting compositions actively engage the viewer, at times triggering sensations of vibration and movement. In the present selection, Riley advances her Measure by Measure series, her most extensive body of work to date, into a new, darker color palette. Once again, changing the way we look and offering a powerful effect on our eyes. This sense of dynamism was explored to great effect in the artist's earliest black-and-white paintings, which established the basis of her enduring formal vocabulary. In 2020, after visiting her own earlier works at her retrospective exhibition organized by the National Galleries of Scotland, Riley returned to black-and-white lozenges, adjusting the orientation of each shape to create a new visual sensation. In 1967, Riley introduced colour into her work, thus expanding the perceptual and optical possibilities of her compositions. Published on the occasion of the 2021 exhibition at David Zwirner, London, this monograph features new scholarship on the artist by art historian Eric de Chassey, who looks at how Riley's past, as well as previous artists, has led to this body of work.

One of the most significant artists working today, Bridget Riley's dedication to the interaction of form and color has led to a continued exploration of perception. From the early 1960s, she has used elementary shapes such as lines, circles, curves, and squares to create visual experiences that actively engage the viewer, at times triggering optical sensations of vibration and movement. Her earliest black-and-white compositions offer impressions of several other pigments, while ensuing, multi-chromatic works present color as an active component. Although abstract, her practice is closely linked with nature, which she understands to be "the dynamism of visual forces-an event rather than an appearance." Eric de Chassey is the director of the Institut national d'histoire de l'art, Paris, and a professor of modern and contemporary art history at the Ecole normale superieure in Lyon, France. Between 2009 and 2015, he was the director of the French Academy in Rome, Villa Medici. He has published extensively on American and European art, transatlantic cultural relationships, and the visual culture of the second half of the twentieth century.

"unbeatable contestant...was the indefatigable Bridget Riley, recently turned ninety and at the top of her game since before many visitors to David Zwirner were even born. Her "Measure for Measure" series is...displayed an artistic clarity and commitment that took my breath away."--Gilda Willliams "Artforum" "It's hard to think of an artist whose work is more visually pleasing than that of British artist Bridget Riley."-- "Artnet News" "Over the decades, Riley has continued to innovate, pushing her practice forward while staying loyal to her perceptual interests. She's developed one of the most recognizable styles--perhaps even a personal brand--in contemporary art: You know a Bridget Riley painting when you see it."--Alina Cohen "Artsy"