Bridget Riley | Printed History
July 5 – July 28, 2023 at TM Gallery
Presented by Ben Parsons x Hannah Payne
at TM Lighting Gallery, London
Read More about Bridget Riley | Printed History on Sphere Magazine
TM Lighting, in collaboration with Ben Parsons x Hannah Payne, is pleased to present a new exhibition of a group of prints by renowned British contemporary artist, Bridget Riley, covering a broad period from the 1960s to 2020, at TM Gallery in London, from 5 – 28 July 2023.
The exhibition ‘Bridget Riley | Printed History’ is a partial overview of prints by Riley, which now number almost 100. It is chronological in nature whilst also looking at the output of prints by decade to give a broad visual representation of what that looks like over a 60-year period; with only four prints produced in the 1990’s, versus over 30 produced in the 00’s.
The fact that the 90’s yielded less than any other decade is in part due to the very technically difficult forms of the ‘zig’ works of the time which made registration of up to 14 colours – demanding in the extreme – and the reality that in the late 80’s and 90’s hard-edge abstraction was distinctly out of fashion. The very productive period of the 00’s coincided with a number of contributary factors such as Karsten Schubert becoming her dealer and helping to reposition her as a major and internationally important artist, and perhaps in particular working with the print studio Artizan Edition, working closely with the exceptional Sally Gimson there, with whom she continues to work with to date.
Initially Riley had reservations about making prints after it was suggested that the painting ‘Movement in Squares’ (1962) would make an excellent print in its own right saying “I had never made a print in my life. For me prints were what you saw in the British Museum, with a very handmade look…” Needless to say the entire edition of 26 prints on the painting ‘Movement in Squares ‘ sold out immediately. And thus, the endeavour of visual exploration through print was started – “During preparatory work for a painting., I may make images which are tangential to the problems posed by the particular painting. Some of these images I return to and develop later”.
Bridget Riley was born in South London 24 April 1931. She studied at Goldsmiths College from 1949 to 1952, and at the Royal College of Art from 1952 to 1955, before going on to teach and work in an advertising agency until 1963. Her first solo exhibition was held at Gallery One in London 1962.
In 1965, Riley exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in a group show, The Responsive Eye. The exhibition drew worldwide attention to the ‘Op Art’ movement, and Riley’s work which consisted of black and white geometric patterns. Riley’s printmaking over the last 50 years has run parallel to the developments in her painting. Riley worked exclusively in black and white until the late 1960s when she shifted her palette to grey and then to colour. Since then, Riley has employed a rich array of colour in several series of influential bodies of work.
Recent solo exhibitions include National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh and Hayward Gallery, London (2019); The Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, Japan (2018); Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand (2017); Graves Gallery, Museum Sheffield (2016); De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, toured to Gemeentemuseum, The Hague (2015) and National Gallery, London (2010).
She represented Great Britain in the Venice Biennale in 1968 where she was the first British contemporary painter, and the first woman, to be awarded the International Prize for painting. In 1974, Riley was named a CBE and in 1999, appointed the Companion of Honour. In 2003, the artist was awarded the Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo.
Riley’s works are held in numerous collections around the world including, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Kunstmuseum, Bern; Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; National Gallery of Modern Art, Tokyo; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon; Arts Council Collection, London; Tate, London; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Yale Center for British Art, Connecticut.
TM Lighting is illuminating the exhibition with its industry-leading GalleryOneThirty spotlights. Already found across London’s art market in galleries and museums, as well as luxury retail, the G130’s 98+ CRI high colour rendition ensures that the vivid colour in Riley’s work is accurately represented, enhancing her compelling geometric forms, guiding the viewer to explore her work in greater depth.
TM Lighting is proud to support such a noteworthy exhibition in its London gallery space on Cubitt Street. TM Lighting’s co-founding director, Andrew Molyneux commented: “It is an honour to present and illuminate a retrospective exhibition of the print output from one of the most important artists of the 20th century. We’re thrilled to have collaborated with Ben Parsons and Hannah Payne on the project, utilising our G130 spotlights for each print to offer the best art lighting in the industry. The show is among the many highlights of our annual exhibition programme which showcases both emerging and established artists alike.”
Exhibition address and contact: TM Gallery, 7 Cubitt Street, London, WC1X 0HF | www.tmlighting.com | info@tmlighting.com | t: +44 (0)207 278 1600