Stripes
Stripes
Signed Print
Bridget Riley
Screenprint, 1971
Signed Print Edition of 150
H 61cm x W 46cm
Critical Review
Beginning in 1971, Bridget Riley’s collection of works featuring stripes is the Op Artist’s most iconic. Representing Riley’s philosophy - that complexity lurks beneath the surface of simplicity, if only we take the time to notice - Stripes implores the viewer to look carefully and closely. Riley introduced colour into her previously black and white works in 1967, expanding the perceptual and optical possibilities of her compositions. Following this, Riley expanded her colour palette as she travelled: conceiving the well-known Egyptian palette (Anchaen, 1981), inspired by her travels there. Having used an array of geometric forms to pursue vibrating movement throughout her artistic career, Riley’s stripes - horizontal, vertical or diagonal, have endured.
Providing a disruptive surge of visual information, Riley’s successive horizontal bars are composed of colours that seem to twist and spin. Consequently, the bars of colour appear to bend and morph, tricking the eye. These optical effects are what gave Riley’s instantly recognisable style the tag Op Art.
