Hesitate 1964

Bridget Riley made this untitled painting which we now call "Hesitate", a beautiful and mesmerizing canvas of dots. Riley's process here feels almost like a science experiment, methodically exploring how color and form can play tricks on the eye. There's an incredible depth created simply through the careful gradation of tone. Those bottom dots, the way they fade into almost nothing, it's like they're breathing. I find myself thinking of Victor Vasarely, another master of optical illusion, but where he’s all hard edges, Riley is soft, almost meditative. This painting isn't about a specific image; it's about the act of seeing itself. It's about how our brains make sense – or, delightfully, fail to make sense – of the world around us. Riley reminds us that art isn't always about answers, but about opening up new ways of questioning.