This month we feature a stunning and visually exciting screenprint on paper by Bridget Riley, entitled June, 1992 – 2002”.

About the artwork

June 1992 - 2002, is a limited edition screenprint by British artist Bridget Riley (b 1931) signed in pencil by the artist.

Part of her ‘Zig/Rhomboid’ series, this artwork is a stunning example of the way Bridget Riley uses the interaction of colours as well as the optical effects for which she is so well known.

Her earlier abstract works were characterised by patterns made from stripes and waves, but in the mid 1980s, Riley began to investigate the use of diagonal rhomboid shapes, often referred to as ‘zigs’, and the way the arrangement of these shapes can result in different visual effects.

In this work you can see a carefully arranged series of diagonal rhomboids in different colours. The blocks sometimes merge or are larger at intervals. A precise positioning of the colours and diagonal blocks creates ‘pulses’ of energy across the image. There are both areas of calm and of stillness.

You are invited to take time to view the work and experience the optical effects for yourself.

About the Artist

Bridget Riley was born in London in 1931. During the war, part of her childhood was spent in Cornwall. She studied at Goldsmiths' College of Art from 1949 to 1952 where she concentrated mostly on life drawing, and then continued her studies at the Royal College of Art from 1952 to 1955.

In the late 1950s, she became interested in pointillism and the work of Georges Seurat. This led on to her developing a new abstract style, exploring shape tone and pattern, using lines, circles, curves and squares which created optical illusions, all in black and white. Through the careful placement of these shapes, she created artworks full of movement and dynamism whose shapes appear to literally ‘move ‘on the canvas.

These pieces formed part of the Optical Art, or ‘Op Art’ movement, of which Riley was a pioneer. After gaining rapid critical recognition, her work was included in the 1965 exhibition ‘The Responsive Eye’ at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Later in the 1960s, the artist added a limited number of colours to her work, to explore the optical effect on her artworks. After visiting Egypt in the late 1970s, she introduced over 100 hand-mixed colours to her repertoire, inspired by colours on wall paintings in Ancient Egyptian tombs. The hues of her ‘Egyptian palette’ can be seen in the screenprint, ‘June’. In the 1980s, Riley began to work with rhomboid shapes (or ‘zigs’) in her work which offered her the opportunity to create new optical effects. The print ‘June’ illustrates this new direction in her practice.

Bridget Riley’s work has been exhibited in major cities across the world, and can be found in some major collections, such as that of the Tate, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Arts Council England.

In 1997 Bridget Riley became an Honorary Graduate of the University of Exeter.

Bridget Riley continues to explore different shapes and colour relationships to create dynamic artworks which are visually stimulating.

Access the Bridget Riley website here.

What is screenprinting?

To make a screenprint, a wide block is used to push ink through a mesh screen in a frame. Stencils can be laid between the paper and the mesh screen to block out areas under the mesh, so that when the ink is pushed through, it doesn’t reach all parts of the paper beneath. Alternatively a special process can be used to create a design on the mesh itself, using a photosensitive emulsion paint, which blocks out areas of the paper when the ink is applied.

Further layers of ink can be added, using the same methods but with different-shaped stencils or differently-designed mesh screens, exposing different areas of the paper, to create pictures in more than one colour.

Traditionally, silk was used for the screen meshes. These days, synthetic threads are usually used. You can screenprint onto many different surfaces including paper, fabric, rubber and ceramic, providing an appropriate ink is used for the material onto which it is being printed.

Below is an image of an inked screen, showing how the ink only comes through the areas on the mesh that have not been blocked out.

Acknowledgements

• Bridget Riley Prints 1962-2005, published by the University of Exeter, 2006
• https://www.dellasposa.com
• Lougher | Contemporary Art Editions | United Kingdom
• Manolis Angelakis (screenprinting image)