Bridget Riley British, b. 1931

Bridget Riley was born in 1931 in Norwood, London. During World War II, she and her family were evacuated to Cornwall; it was then that the landscape of the coast strongly influenced her work. After studying at Goldsmiths College following the war, she moved to the Royal College of Art in London to continue advanced study, where she developed a style that would enable her to be considered one of the leading figures of the Op Art movement.

Best known for her work in black and white during the 1960s, Riley has created the geometry of patterns that explore optical phenomena and perception. Her paintings characterise rhythmic and dynamic visual effects of such a nature that typically evoke a sense of movement and shimmering light. Moving into the late 1960s, she began using colour and produced brightly coloured compositions where form and colour continued to further their interactions.

Among the many different types of awards Riley has won throughout her long career, perhaps the most notable is the International Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale in 1968. Work by her has been shown worldwide, and major retrospectives have been held at institutions such as the Tate Britain and New York's Museum of Modern Art. Her contribution to contemporary visual culture, against the adversities of a male-dominant art world, has been great.

Today, Bridget Riley resides and works in London and Vaucluse, France.