Seeing Squares- Seurat and Riley

A chance to explore these illusions first-hand

When Bridget Riley, aged 30, began working on her experiments with shape, she wanted to address if there was ‘anything new to be found in a square.’ In short, yes there was. Riley could not have known that her Movement in Squares (1961) would contribute to an explosion in artworks exploring perspective, form, colour and illusion. The movement would become known as ‘Op Art’ and was a defining artistic moment of the 1960s.  An exhibition at the Holbourne museum, Bath, traces this development from its roots in early colour theory to its manifestations in other areas of culture.

 

Michele Eugene Chevreul, The Law of Simultaneous Colour Contrast, 1839    

Seurat to Riley: The Art of Perception begins the exhibition with a brief history of artistic interest in colour and form. Beginning with Michele Eugene Chevreul’s works into colour theory in 1839, the exhibition sets itself a large scope to cover. It points to the huge impact Chevreul had on the Impressionists of the late 1800s, as they explored how dabs of contrasting colours could depict the effects of light. Perhaps one of the biggest examples of this is with the work of the Pointillist, Georges Seurat. He explored how, rather than mixing colours on a palette, dabbing complementary and contrasting colours together makes more vivid effects, as the eye itself mixes them when viewing them from a distance.

Georges Seurat, The Morning Walk, 1885

As the title of the exhibition suggests, the curators have aimed to draw parallels with this Impressionist artist and the later endeavours of Op Artists. It is a well-made argument, as clearly, Op Art too is interested in the effects that can be achieved when viewing colour. However, it was perhaps weakened by the fact there was only one Impressionist artwork on display, Seurat’s The Morning Walk, meaning the argument was made more with accompanying text, rather than with visual material.

Bridget Riley, Fall, 1963

Apart from this limitation, the exhibition was thorough with the rest of its collection of artworks. They have acquired many of Bridget Riley’s important early pieces, such as Pause (1964) and Bridget Riley, Fall (1963). These pieces alone make the exhibition worth seeing, as one can only really appreciate their effects in person. Fall in particular is an astonishing work of art, and one you will both want to and struggle to look at for long. 

Bridget Riley, Rose Rose, 2011

Alongside these works are some of Riley’s rough experiments, showing the true scientific nature of her experimental works, involving careful calculations for every shape. As well as these monochromatic pieces, the exhibition includes her later works exploring colour, such as Rose Rose (2011). These are the less famous pieces, as they lack the optical illusory effects of some of her other works, but they are still worth seeing to fully appreciate the vast career of this artist.

Logo for the Mexico Olympic Games, 1968 

These pieces are complimented with a range of other famous Op Art pieces, including Carlos Cruz-Diez’s 3D illusions, and Jeffrey Steele’s Harlequinade (1964). With many of the pieces on show, you will not believe they are simply monochrome or 2D. We are also shown the deep-rooted and widespread influence Op Art had, as it reached everything from the Mexico Olympic Games of 1968 to David Bowie’s album covers, a real strength of the collection.

Victor Varasely, Space Oddity, 1969

From contrasting colours to questioning how far a shape can be pushed, these artists truly had a real effect on visual culture and our way of seeing. It is worth making the trip to Bath to see these illusions first-hand.

Seurat to Riley: The Art of Perception is on display at the Holbourne Museum, Bath, until 21st January 2018. 

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