31conjured up many a stormy sky on canvas and who called
clouds ‘messengers’, because they signal approaching rain;
in the context of the National Gallery, the title alludes to the
number of winged angels, who are bearers of news, that are
represented in the collection. For Riley, the circles ‘... are not
clouds, they are discs that I hope - by looking - fl oat towards
you and lose their moorings from the wall.’
Most of these motifs are arranged in triads of earthy pastel
colours – beige; a green that is midway between yellow and
blue and a blue that is midway between reddish blue and
greenish blue. Their colours bleach or darken according
to the light coming through the windows; at certain angles
the circles become ovoid. An unforeseen result of making
the painting in this location are the many refl ections in the
polished black marble lining the stairway. The refl ections
turn the shapes into three-dimensional spheres hanging in a
shadowy molecular universe. Riley delights in the ‘after-image’
or the ‘optical bleed’ that make her paintings pop. This eff ect
is almost hallucinogenic. As I look across at ‘Messengers’ I can
see the fl icker of pale spots that hop all over the wall and up
the ceiling in a ghostly giddy dance.
‘Cascando’, 2015. Acrylic on polyester, 150 x 450cm © Bridget Riley 2018. All rights reserved
‘Blaze I’, 1962. Emulsion on hardboard, 109.20 x 109.20cm
© Bridget Riley 2018. All rights reserved‘Movement in Squares’, 1961. Synthetic emulsion on board,
123.2 x 121.2cm © Bridget Riley 2018. All rights reserved
‘Pause’, 1964. Synthetic emulsion on board, 111.8 x 106.7cm
© Bridget Riley 2018. All rights reserved