Painting
Bridget Riley/Forms

Achieved through the systematic and precise manipulation of shapes and colours, the effects of Op art can be based either on perspective illusion or on chromatic tension; in painting, the dominant medium of Op art, the surface tension is usually maximized to the point at which an actual pulsation or flickering is …

Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Op art works are abstract, with many better known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibrating patterns, or of swelling or warping.

Medium Terms & Definitions

Everything is painted by hand – no rulers, masking tape or mechanical means are used when actually applying the paints. Riley has worked with assistants since the 1960s because of the large scale and the need for great precision. Bridget Riley CBE is a trustee of the National Gallery in London.

Bridget Riley, Victor Vasarely and another artist called Jesus Rafael Soto were three of the most important op artists. Look at the way shapes, colours and light and dark shades are used in these op artworks to change the way 2D images appear.

1965-70) Op Art (a term coined in 1964 by Time magazine) is a form of abstract art (specifically non-objective art) which relies on optical illusions in order to fool the eye of the viewer. It is also called optical art or retinal art.

She explores color interaction first in small gouache color studies, then moving to full-size paper-ad-gouache designs (as in the photo at right). The large-scale canvases are then marked up and painted entirely by hand — first in acrylics, then in oil.

Hayward Gallery. London, United Kingdom Its rhythm subtly evokes a meeting of two forms, a kiss or a folding of two flat planes into a vanishing line of contact.

Op art

• Abstract art. Abstract art is art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead use …
• Minimalism. Minimalism is an extreme form of abstract art developed in the USA in the 1960s and typified by artworks composed …
• Kinetic art.
• Neo-geo.

Riley has always been a little skeptical of the label “Op Art” because of its “gimmicky” sound. While her work produces optical illusions, of movement for instance, Riley insists that her paintings are not mechanical or depersonalized. She stresses the subjectivity of her own decision-making process in creating the forms.

Bridget Riley’s paintings came to International notice when she exhibited along with Victor Vasarelyand others in the Museum of Modern Art in New York at an exhibition called “The Responsive Eye” in 1965. It was one of Riley’s paintings that was featured on the cover to the exhibition catalogue.

Bridget Riley ‘No painter, dead or alive, has ever made us more aware of our eyes than Bridget Riley. ’Robert Melville, 1971 To see examples of Bridget Riley’s art visit the Bridget Riley gallery.

She describes the process as “being a revelation to her” with regard to color. Soon after, in 1966, Riley begins to use color to achieve new optical effects. By juxtaposing lines of complementary pure colors she can affect the perceived brightness of the individual colors.