As Bridget Riley was exhibiting her work locally, we had to go and see it!
Riley is well known for creating optical art (commonly known as 'op art'), art which provokes the viewer with a sense of movement as a result of the geometric compositions manifested within the work.
Having looked at Bridget Riley's work briefly last year as a part of my own practice, I was really excited about the prospect of actually being able to stand in front of her work and experience it first hand!
The exhibition contained one piece in particular that is iconic of Riley and her abstract work:
'Movement in Squares'
Image reference:
Riley is much more well known for her work in black and white, but this exhibition contained works which embraced and encompassed colour, and showed her experimentation and exploration with this.
I do have to say that the more time that was spent viewing the exhibition, the more my vision was becoming distorted, and the more I was developing a headache. I think that this was true of us all!
In her colour work, Riley has used lines of colour to create a flickering effect, whereas in others she has created artworks where the composition consists of tessalating patterns (a good cross curricular link between maths and art!).
'Ecclesia'
Image reference: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n19/bridget-riley/at-the-end-of-my-pencil
'Shimmered Shape'
As we could not take pictures inside the gallery itself, I took a picture of the banner outside the gallery to represent the tessalation of shapes.
On a blurb within the exhibition, Riley states,
"In working on a painting I choose a small group of colours and juxtapose them in different sequences to provide various relationships and to precipiate colour reactions. These 'colour events' are delicate and elusive, they have to be organised to make them more present, more there, more real. I take for example three colours, say magenta, ochre and turquoise plus back and white a situation which then triggers airy indescent bursts of colour."
In addition to the work itself, another element of the exhibition which really appealed to me as the fact there were some pieces that Riley had included that were not fully completed, and which showed the process of her work and the level of mathematical precision and preparation that goes into her work.
Riley's work shows key measurements and notation. These indicate to the viewer that she goes through a method to create her work, and that this method changes depending on what her intentions are, and how she uses these measurements/calculations to inform and adapt her practice when creating her work. This illuminates and supports her experimental and developmental processes and ways of working. It demonstrates that there is much more involved than just being able to create shapes on a canvas and apply colour to these. There is a reason behind why everything Riley does is done in a particular way. It was like an insight into Riley's brain!
So to Riley, process is as important as outcome, if not more. This view supports my own practice within an art context, and also from a pedagogical perspective. In addition to establishing an outcome it is as important to reflect upon how this outcome has been achieved, and what steps have informed this outcome.Whether this be the understanding and a grasp of a mathematical concept, or how my exhibition has come together at the end of the year.
From a school perspective, as teachers we must take into consideration the need for an understanding of process in addition to outcome when assessing and monitoring children's learning and development in art. Koster (2009, p.67) agrees with this by explaining,
"Teachers must find ways of recording and presenting not just the final static product, but the whole process of creation."
As teachers we can come to an understanding of the individual stages that children's work has passed through and how the children percieve and understand their work. By encouraging children to record their jouneys in art, and regularly allowing them to talk about their work to their teachers and their peers, children's knowedge, understanding and skills in art can be accurately demonstrated, developed, and actively applied.
An active example of recording the process of art is through the use of sketchbooks (which I could talk about forever) and alternatives to physical sketchbooks such as this blog!
To conclude, the importance of visiting art galleries has become really apparent to me. Beal & Miller (2001, p.207) suggest that,
"They [galleries] can be a wonderful learning experience for children. It is important that children see real work whenever possible - work that artists have actually made as opposed to looking only at reproductions"
By being able to view Bridget Riley's work, I have been able to identify that we cannot recieve and re-create the same experience of standing in front an original piece of art, and experience and recognise what impact this has on our senses and perceptions at that particular moment in time.
References:
Beal, N. & Miller G,B. (2001) The Art of Teaching Art to Children. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Koster, J, B. (2009) Growing Artists.Teaching the Arts to Young Children. Delmar: Cengage Learning.
References:
Beal, N. & Miller G,B. (2001) The Art of Teaching Art to Children. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Koster, J, B. (2009) Growing Artists.Teaching the Arts to Young Children. Delmar: Cengage Learning.
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