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About the artist: english artist Brigitte Riley (b. 1931) is widely recognized for her colorful geometric pattern paintings and as a pioneering force in the op art movement of the 1960s. A graduate of Goldsmiths College and the Royal College of Art, Riley’s early work (before the 1960s) were largely landscape and figure paintings done in an Impressionist style, inspired by his studies of the Pointillists, particularly Georges Surat. The optical effects of Pointillism led her to experiment more with color and composition, and through the influence of contemporaries like Richard Anuszkiewicz and more experienced painters such as Victor Vasarely, Riley came to develop her own style of painting. inimitable abstraction. Over the course of her decades-long career, Riley has continued to experiment with the limits of her own practice, from small-scale print production to major installation pieces, drawing inspiration from everyday life as well as travel. in the world. She has received numerous major commissions and her work is held in institutional collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York; Tate Collection, London; and Nationalgalerie, Berlin.
What do you want to know: This month, Max Hetzler GalleryBerlin, opened the largest retrospective of Riley’s murals in the solo exhibition “Bridget Riley: Wallworks 1983–2023.” Held at the gallery’s Potsdamer Straße 77–87, the exhibition is Riley’s ninth solo exhibition with the gallery and features 13 works, half of which are loans from major public collections and four are new compositions. The large format paintings are complemented by the large exhibition spaces, which allow visitors to have a fully immersive visual experience of the works and explore Riley’s unique artistic practice. On view through August 19, 2023, “Bridget Riley: Wall Works 1983–2023” follows in the footsteps of the inauguration at the beginning of May of Riley’s very first ceiling painting, Verve, in the foyer of the British school in Rome.
Why we love it: With haunting and intriguing compositions of geometric color, Riley’s work has captivated the art world for over four decades. His often monumental murals provide a sense of visual envelopment not often found in Op art, adding another dimension to the public’s visual encounters with his work. In the current exhibition, there is a juxtaposition contained not just within each individual piece – between color and form – but between works from different periods and collections, providing visitors with an invaluable opportunity to gain a comprehensive insight into the Riley’s work and the artistic imperatives she has consistently pursued throughout her career. In Cosmos (2017), the complementary color palette in a strategic pattern makes the dots appear to hover above, rather than on, the wall. Somewhere else, flash of color (2017) makes the viewer aware of the limits of their own vision. The show as a whole is a testament to Riley’s singular accomplishments in op art.
See the interior of the exhibition and the works presented below.
Installation view of “Bridget Riley: Wall Works 1983–2023)” (2023). Photo: image def. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin.
Brigitte Riley, Intervals Wall Painting (2021). Photo: image def. © Bridget Riley (2023). Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, Paris, London.
Brigitte Riley, Angel (2022). Photo: image def. © Bridget Riley (2023). Collection of the King Edward VII Hospital, London.
Brigitte Riley, Cosmos (2017). Photo: image def. ©Bridget Riley. Collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Bridget Riley, detail of Cosmos (2017). Photo: image def. ©Bridget Riley. Collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch, New Zealand.
“Bridget Riley: Wallworks 1983–2023is on view at Galerie Max Hetzler, Postdamer Straße 77-87, Berlin, until August 19, 2023.
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