Deutscher and Hackett

Although compositionally very different, Study for White Disks, 1964 similarly investigates the fundamental role of perception which lies at the core of our existence. As Moorhouse elucidates, analysing another version of the present composition, White Discs 2, 1964 (private collection):

'What we see, in looking at the painting is not simply its surface characteristics; rather, the visual experience of the work is intimately connected with our inner responses to it. Indeed, the overwhelming impression is that it is only in looking that the true nature of the painting is revealed and completed' The initial (sensory) phase when the eye accepts the motif passively is defined by a fleeting impression of rows of black discs, of varying sizes. This view is very quickly overtaken by a secondary (perceptual) stage which is marked by the appearance of numerous ghostly white discs "after images" which exist alongside their black progenitors. A third, open-ended phase is characterised by the viewer's interaction with the situation as it is now presented. In this stage, the eye moves freely around the pictorial space, alternating between the apprehension of real and virtual images. This process is self-sustaining in that the white after-images reappear and are regenerated indefinitely. The capacity of Riley's art for regeneration, using elements from within itself, is a remarkable aspect of her work.'¹

1. Moorhouse, P.,'The ultimate secret of things: Perception and sensation in Bridget Riley's art' in Bridget Riley: Paintings and Drawings 1961-2004, Ridinghouse, London, 2004, p. 16

VERONICA ANGELATOS