Hesitate 1964

Bridget Riley created this painting, "Hesitate," with an array of blue and white dots that play tricks on your eyes. I can only imagine Riley in her studio, thinking about Neo-Impressionists like Seurat, laboriously applying each dot with precision and care, one after another. I mean, can you imagine all that dabbing? Each little circle feels like a tiny decision, a mark of control, but the overall effect is something much more fluid. It’s as if the painting is breathing. The value and placement of each dot seem to vibrate like a landscape reflected on rippling water. Her explorations of perception resonate with the color theories of the Bauhaus artists. It reminds me that painting isn’t just about expressing yourself; it’s a way of investigating how we see and experience the world. Like, what is real anyway? Painting allows artists to engage with the ongoing conversation about abstraction. Each brushstroke, each color choice, contributes to an evolving dialogue that spans generations.