Visual research
Bridget Riley
Repeated marks, changing intervals, and movement made in the act of looking.
About
Bridget Riley is a British artist, born in 1931. Her paintings and prints explore how a patterned surface can unsettle perception: marks stay still while the eye registers movement or depth. MoMA’s records place her among the leading artists of Op art. [1] [2]
In Fission (1962), distorted black dots make the centre of a flat board appear to recede. In Current (1964), Riley painted the lines by hand; their high contrast creates a sense of vibration and depth. MoMA records Current in The Responsive Eye, its 1965 exhibition of optical abstraction. The effect depends on the relationship between the surface and the person looking at it. [2] [3]
The seven Fragments prints (1965) extend this investigation into screenprinting on acrylic sheet. MoMA describes the series as Riley’s first sustained exploration of printmaking: curves, zigzags and dots change scale across the surface, producing apparent movement. Robert Fraser Gallery published the prints in London, with Kelpra as printer. [4]
Selected works
These works are listed in MoMA’s Bridget Riley artist record. Each title links to its collection record.
- Fission (1962) — tempera on board.
- Current (1964) — synthetic polymer paint on board.
- Fragments (1965) — seven screenprints on acrylic sheet:
- Untitled (1972) — gouache and pencil on graph paper.
Why Riley matters here
For Algorithmics, Riley’s work offers a way to judge a drawing system by what its marks do to perception. Repetition alone is not enough: a change in interval, curvature or scale can turn a regular field into something that seems to move. This is an Algorithmics reading of the works, rather than a claim that Riley made them with code.
The local Current study takes Riley’s painting as a reference for a parametric line drawing. Its controls make spacing and curvature available for comparison, while SVG paths carry those decisions towards a pen and paper. That translation changes the material and method: Riley’s hand-painted surface and the plotted study remain distinct works.
Sources
- MoMA, Bridget Riley: artist and collection records
- MoMA, Fission (1962): collection record and gallery text
- MoMA, Current (1964): collection record and gallery texts
- MoMA, Untitled (Fragment 2) (1965): materials, production and series account; Fragments: all seven records
No artwork images are reproduced on this page. Bridget Riley’s works remain the property of their respective owners; copyright remains with the artist and relevant rightsholders. The collection links imply no permission to reproduce the works.