Optic Nerve - Bridget Riley at City Gallery, Wellington
Written by
Optic Nerve - Courtesy of NZ Listener
By William McAloon
A major new Bridget Riley show proves that, for all her works' notorious coolness and perfectionism, there is also real emotional feeling in these dizzy curves, pulsing stripes and "clusters of colour sensations".
In a 1967 interview with the critic David Sylvester, British painter Bridget Riley couldn't quite get his point that her paintings hurt. "Do you want your work to be aggressive towards the spectator?" Sylvester asked. "Do you like it to hurt your eyes?" Riley pleaded ambivalence: "I don't mind either way. But I remember being surprised when people complained that it hurt their eyes, because it has never hurt mine."
Image: Bridget Riley's Where 1964 - strenuous workouts for the optical nerve.
Optic Nerve - Courtesy of NZ Listener
By William McAloon
A major new Bridget Riley show proves that, for all her works' notorious coolness and perfectionism, there is also real emotional feeling in these dizzy curves, pulsing stripes and "clusters of colour sensations".
In a 1967 interview with the critic David Sylvester, British painter Bridget Riley couldn't quite get his point that her paintings hurt. "Do you want your work to be aggressive towards the spectator?" Sylvester asked. "Do you like it to hurt your eyes?" Riley pleaded ambivalence: "I don't mind either way. But I remember being surprised when people complained that it hurt their eyes, because it has never hurt mine."
Image: Bridget Riley's Where 1964 - strenuous workouts for the optical nerve.