Looking closer at the art practise of Bridget Riley:


Manser, Jose. "Design Museum." RSA Journal, Vol 137, No. 5398 (1989): 675-676. Accessed October 23, 2013.
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/stable/pdfplus/41375011.pdf?&acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true


1) She has chosen incomparable paintings. All are rich in colour and detail: most touched or dominated by blue, a colour which seems glorious to Riley. She does not point out that narrative painting, as opposed to abstract, allows the artist to portray many observations and differing sensibilities at once.



Bridget Riley guides the onlooker through the static representations on canvas pointing out the movement which enlivens the imagery and supports the colour

Bridget Riley implores us to look closely. In my view it would follow that abstract art provides less to look at, less to feed our humanity, even if it has its own wonders. Who could not wonder at Riley's own ability to arrange bands of colour so that the flat canvas appears to project movement which neither begins nor ends, but is in motion when first seen and is active when left behind?

She chose abstraction because she found it 'sensual'. She rejects pre-planning as 'it gets in the way', maintaining that all decisions are taken on the evidence of her eyes: 'there is no right or wrong, only a judgement for the health of the work I am doing'.  

Bridget Riley, "Rock"