Bridget Riley
dal 19/6/2009 al 24/7/2009
Segnalato da
19/6/2009
Bridget Riley
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Circles Colour Structure. Studies 1970/71. Since the mid-1960s she has been celebrated for her distinctive, optically vibrant paintings which actively engage the viewer's sensations and perceptions, producing visual experiences that are complex and challenging, subtle and arresting. Riley is acclaimed as one of the finest exponents of Op Art, with her subtle variations in size, shape and position of blocks within the overall pattern.
Galerie Max Hetzler is pleased to announce an exhibition of gouaches by Bridget Riley from the series Circles Colour
Structure Studies 1970/71.
The artist challenges the viewer in visual experiments that are equally subtle and provocative.The exhibition The Responsive
Eye in 1965 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, appointed Bridget Riley as one of the leading artists, who works with
geometrical forms and colour elements. Through optical calculation and with regularities of lines, surfaces, and color
combinations, she develops optical illusions in which she investigates sight. As in Cézanne’s and Seurat’s paintings, the
pictorial space serves for natural scientific studies. Riley examines the perception of nature by means of color and forms.
Regarding this series Circles Colour Structure Studies 1970/71, in an interview with Robert Kudielka in 1972, Riley stated the
following:
The studies I make have different purposes. At the beginning I try to be as unselective as possible – to allow things
to happen, later gradually tightening up until all aspects have been drawn together.
I proceed by trial and error – exploring and slowly establishing a particular situation. Obviously many studies will be
discarded en route to a painting, though they may still be interesting as visual statements.
(...) the studies deal with aspects, the painting with totality. The studies are flexible and malleable, whereas the
paintings are decisive and finite.
(...) I have always tried to avoid "colouring forms". I want to create a colour-form, not coloured forms.
It is very important that each form finally relinquishes its separateness in the whole. It must be fully absorbed. So
while it is necessary in the early stages to analyse each unit, my aim is to enable it to release sufficient energy to
precipitate its dissolution in totality.
(...) I don’t paint light. I present a colour situation which releases light as you look at it.
The interview was published to accompany the exhibition "Circles Colour Structure Studies 1970/71" at Karsten Schubert in
London in 2008.
Riley has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, including Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2008) ;
Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main (2007) ; ZKM – Museum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (2006) ; Museum
of Contemporary Art, Sydney ; Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (both 2005) ; San Diego Museum of Art (2004) ; Tate Britain,
London (2003) ; Dia Center for the Arts, New York (2000) ; Serpentine Gallery, London (1999) ; Venice Biennale (1986) ;
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (1980) ; Kunstverein Hannover (1970) ; documenta VI (1977) and documenta IV
(1968), Kassel.
Image: Encircling Discs with Black, 1970. Gouache on paper. Courtesy: Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin © the artist
For further information and images, please contact us:
artpress – Ute Weingarten
Phone: +49 (0)30 2196 1843 Fax: +49 (0)30 2196 1847 artpress@uteweingarten.de
Private view: 20 June 2009, 6 – 8 pm
Galerie Max Hetzler
Zimmerstrasse 90/91 - 10117 Berlin
Opening Hours: Tue - Sat 11am till 6pm
The gallery will be closed from 30 July until 31 August.