Blue And Pink
Blue And Pink
Signed Print
Bridget Riley
Screenprint, 2001
Signed Print Edition of 90
H 28cm x W 118cm
Critical Review
This signed screen print was released in 2001 in an edition of 90. Composed of two colours, blue and pink, as the title suggests, this print features a considerable reduction in the number of colours typical of a Bridget Riley screen print. The irregular serpentine, sweeping forms Blue And Pink is composed of were to occupy the painter’s pictorial interest for a decade. Since her first forays into pure geometric abstraction in the 1960s, Riley has worked in series, each one focusing for several years on a particular formal theme. In this series, the preoccupation lies in the use of repeated curved forms in limited colour combinations. Here, the structures’ curvilinear element evokes a sense of movement and rhythm. In Blue And Pink it is possible to follow a series of implicit diagonal lines, which move from the bottom left to top right of the picture surface, creating a sense of movement.
The colour palette of Blue And Pink is inspired by Henri Matisse’s Paris Dance Mural, 1931-33. In Matisse’s mural, grey figures dance before a background of blue and pink stripes, interspersed with areas of black. In Blue And Pink the coloured shapes themselves dance, their fluid dynamism accentuated by an irregular rhythm: the left hand side of the print is dominated by wide pink forms, whilst the right hand side narrower blue forms take precedence.
