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Op Art
Op art, also known as optical art, is a style of visual art that makes use of optical
illusions.
Op Art was a major development in the 1960s art world that created optical effects for the
viewer. These effects ranged from the subtle, to the disorienting. Op Art used a
framework of purely geometric forms as a response to the organic forms of nature. As
well Op Art also drew on colour theory and the physiology and psychology of perception.
Bridget Riley
•
Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931 in Norwood, London) is an English
Painter who is one of the foremost proponents of Op Art.
•
Riley’s work present a great variety of geometric forms that produce sensations
of movement, colour, and landscape. In the early 1960s, her works were said to
induce sensations in viewers as varied as movement, seasickness and Sky Diving.
Bridget Riley, Fission, 1963
Bridget Riley, Drift No. 2 (1966)
“The eye can travel over the surface in a way parallel to the way it moves over nature. It
should feel caressed and soothed, experience frictions and ruptures, glide and drift…one
moment there will be nothing to look at and the next second the canvas seems to refill, to
be crowded with visual events.” – Bridget Riley
The following are black and white photographs of nature that bring to mind a Bridget
Riley painting.
Bridget Riley Arrest 2 (1965), Acrylic on linen, 195 x 190.5 cm,
Bridget Riley Drift No. 2
1966
Acrylic on canvas
Bridget Riley, Catarct 3 (1967)
Rhythm and Repetition
• Rhythm is a strong, regular, repeated pattern that forms a harmonious sequence or
correlation of colors or elements, which usually develops from organizing the
space between objects. This rhythmic flow, which is accomplished by repetition,
acts as a unifying device for the composition and is often used to suggest
movement. Alteration of large and small areas of negative (dark) space within a
composition generates this sense of motion.
• Repetition involves the use of patterning to achieve timed movement and a
visual "beat". This repetition may be a clear repetition of elements in a
composition, or it may be a more subtle kind of repetition that can be observed in
the underlying structure of the image.
Fall 1963
Emulsion on hardboard
support: 1410 x 1403 mm
painting
Britannia ?? (1961) emuslion on cardboard, 56x61