#83 - Bridget Riley ~ Hesitate ~ 1964
#83 - Biographical Sketch of Bridget Riley
Bridget Louise Riley, is an English painter who is one of the foremost proponents of Op art, which is a style of abstract art in which
lines, forms, and space are organized in such a way as to provide optical illusions of an ambiguous nature, as alternately advancing and receding
squares on a flat surface. Riley was born in London in 1931. Her father, John Fisher Riley, originally from Yorkshire, was a printer, as his own
father had been. In 1938 he relocated the printing business, together with his family, to Lincolnshire.
During World War II Riley's father was drafted into the army and she was evacuated, with her mother and sister, to a cottage in Cornwall.
The cottage, not far from the sea near Padstow, was shared with an aunt who was a former student at Goldsmiths College, London. Primary
education came in the form of irregular talks and lectures by non-qualified or retired teachers. She attended Cheltenham Ladies' College and
then studied art at Goldsmiths College (1949–52), and later at the Royal College of Art (1952–55). In 1955 Riley graduated with a BA degree.
Between 1956 and 1958 she nursed her father, who had been involved in a serious car crash, and herself suffered a breakdown. After this
she worked in a glassware shop and also, for a while, taught children. She eventually joined the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, as an
illustrator, where she worked part-time until 1962.
Her early work was figurative with a semi-impressionist style. Around 1960 she began to develop her signature Op Art style consisting
of black and white geometric patterns that explore the dynamism of sight and produce a disorienting effect on the eye. Early in her career, Riley
worked as an art teacher from 1957-64 at four different art colleges.The large Whitechapel Gallery exhibition of Jackson Pollock, in the winter
of 1958, was to have a major impact on her.
Riley's mature style, developed during the 1960s, was influenced by a number of sources. It was during this time that Riley began to
paint the black and white works for which she is well known. They present a great variety of geometric forms that produce sensations of
movement or color. In the early 1960s, her works were said to induce sensations in viewers as varied as seasickness and sky diving. Works in
this style comprised her first solo show in London in 1962, as well as numerous subsequent shows. Visually, these works relate to many
concerns of the period: a perceived need for audience participation (this relates them to the Happenings, for which the period is famous),
challenges to the notion of the mind-body duality which led some people to experiment with hallucinogenic drugs; concerns with a tension
between a scientific future which might be very beneficial or might lead to a nuclear war; and fears about the loss of genuine individual
experience in a Brave New World.
In 1965, Riley exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City show, The Responsive Eye; the exhibition which first drew
worldwide attention to her work and the Op Art movement. Her painting, Current, 1964, was reproduced on the cover of the show's catalog.
Riley became disillusioned with Op because her work was exploited for commercial purposes. Riley began investigating color in 1967, the year
in which she produced her first stripe painting.
Following a major retrospective in the early 1970s, Riley began traveling extensively. After a trip to Egypt in the early 1980s, where she
was inspired by colorful hieroglyphic decoration, Riley began to explore colour and contrast. In 1968, Riley represented Great Britain in the
Venice Biennale. She was the first British contemporary painter, and the first woman, to be awarded the prestigious International Prize for
painting. In many works since this period, Riley has employed others to paint the pieces, while she concentrates on the actual design of her
work.
#83 - Additional Works by Bridget Riley
#83 - Questions about Bridget Riley
1) What is the meaning of Op Art?
a) optician's art movement
b) optigon shaped art
c) optical illusions
d) opstetrics art
2) Why do you think Riley became disillusioned with Op art?
a) because she gained little fame and fortune
b) because her work was ridiculed by the critics
c) because her work was exploited for commercial purposes
d) because her work was focused on expressions of liberation
3) Which statement best describes views experiencing sensations such as seasickness and sky diving?
a) Riley's works in the early 1960s
b) Riley's works in the early 1860s
c) Warhol's works in the early 1960s
d) Riley's works in the early 1940s
4) Based on the fact that in 1965, Riley exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City show, The Responsive Eye , which of
these conclusions is accurate?
a) the exhibition first drew worldwide attention to her work and the Surrealist movement
b) the exhibition first drew worldwide attention to her work and the Op Art movement
c) the exhibition first drew worldwide attention to her work and the Pop Art movement
d) the exhibition first drew worldwide attention to her work and the Fauve movement
5) Which of the following is a reason for Riley's works to visually relate to many concerns of the period?
a) a perceived need for acceptance
b) a perceived need for approval
c) a perceived need for notoriety
d) a perceived need for audience participation