The Information on `Bridget Riley' at the Serpentine Gallery

What Is It?

Bridget Riley, one of Britain's most influential artists (Damien Hirst acknowledges that his spot paintings are descendants of her work), whose pictures will forever be associated with the Swinging Sixties, is celebrated in the Serpentine Gallery's latest exhibition. The display focuses on the Op artist's early work, from the uncompromising, optically arresting black-and-white abstractions (right) of the early Sixties, to 1980 - by which point Riley had embraced colour.

What They Say About It

"Her early pictures still look unquestionably of their time, but not in the least bit dated... the almost physical power of a purely visual sensation is what all Riley's paintings are about," Richard Ingleby, The Independent.

"Even in reproduction they fizz and swoon and shimmer off the page. In the 1960s, they were, like, Wow!" Adrian Searle, The Guardian.

"The aesthetic pleasure to be derived from these early works is not only visual but cerebral, depending in large measure on our ability to keep pace with the clarity and invention of Riley's mind as well as her eye... it comes along at just the right moment in her long career to remind the world not to take her for granted," Richard Dorment, The Daily Telegraph.

"[A] timely, invigorating show," Richard Cork, The Times.

Where You Can See It

Bridget Riley: Paintings from the 1960s & 70s is at the Serpentine Gallery, London W2. Info: (0171-298 1515) until 30 Aug