joseph scissorhands: Bridget Riley

Saturday 25 January 2020

Bridget Riley

From Here, (1994) detail

'Looking is, I feel, a vital aspect of existence. Perception constitutes our awareness of what it is to be human, indeed what it is to be alive.' - Bridget Riley

I really enjoyed my visit to this Bridget Riley retrospective as there was so much to learn from the artists work, although the awkward layout of the gallery spaces in the Hayward made it appear to be a disjointed experience, where the viewer is forced to jump back and forth between different periods of Riley's career. A more fitting space would I thought, have been either of the Tate galleries in London. Despite this, the quality of work on display makes it a very good exhibition, full of many surprises not the least the chance to discover the earlier representational, figurative works from Riley's youth before she made the leap to pure abstraction. It was a pleasure to see the influence of Seurat's work on her output. The development of her excercises in pattern and colour were really pleasing and dazzlingly to the eye, confusing the visual senses with dynamic optical tricks to create a sensation of movement. This survey contains work from all phases of Riley's career beginning with the strong graphic shapes of her black and white work from the 1960s, to the cool coloured stripes of the 1980s, through to the disruptive diagonals of the 1990s and the softer more sensual curves of the noughties, demonstrating just how strong an artist Riley actually is. There was lots for me to take from this show, as I saw parallels between the rhythms of some of Riley's 1970s works, and those of some of the pieces that I began developing last year. Watch this space, and visit this vibrant, vital exhibition, it's the perfect antidote to a grey London winter.