I am sometimes asked ?What is your objective' and this I cannot truthfully answer. I work
?from' something rather than ?towards' something. It is a process of discovery.? Since 1961
Riley has focused exclusively on seemingly simple geometric forms such as lines circles
curves and squares arrayed across a surface?whether a canvas wall or paper?according to an
internal logic. The resulting compositions actively engage the viewer at times triggering
sensations of vibration and movement. In the present selection Riley advances her Measure by
Measure series her most extensive body of work to date into a new darker color palette. Once
again changing the way we look and offering a powerful effect on our eyes. This sense of
dynamism was explored to great effect in the artist's earliest black-and-white paintings which
established the basis of her enduring formal vocabulary. In 2020 after visiting her own
earlier works at her retrospective exhibition organized by the National Galleries of Scotland
Riley returned to black-and-white lozenges adjusting the orientation of each shape to create a
new visual sensation. In 1967 Riley introduced colour into her work thus expanding the
perceptual and optical possibilities of her compositions. Published on the occasion of the 2021
exhibition at David Zwirner London this monograph features new scholarship on the artist by
art historian Éric de Chassey who looks at how Riley's past as well as previous artists has
led to this body of work.
