Bridget Riley's exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate offers a mesmerising journey through optical art, leaving viewers breathless. The show, titled 'Learning to See', features 26 works from the 1960s to the present, including large canvases, studies, and wall paintings.
Riley's paintings immediately arrest the viewer, revealing more with each glance. The colours and patterns seem to shift, creating a physical and phenomenological experience. Works like 'Dancing to the Music of Time' (2022) and 'Angel' demonstrate her mastery of colour and space, evoking comparisons to musical compositions by Erik Satie.
The exhibition encourages active looking, making viewers aware of time and movement. Riley's precise control of rhythm and interval generates both motion and stasis. Pieces such as 'Arrest 3' (1965) and 'Streak 3' (1980) draw the eye into complex optical conundrums.
Recent works like 'Pharaoh' (2023) and the 'Current' series continue Riley's exploration of perception. The artist, now 94, believes in making a contribution to modern art, and her focus on the act of seeing—prolonged and repeated—remains singular and powerful.
