Bridget Riley

Happy Birthday Bridget Riley!! English painter from 1931, born in London, this woman artist first studied at Cheltenham Ladies' College but later went to the Royal College of Art. She was a forerunner of Op art, creating illusions of intricate black and white geometric patterns. Early on she was an art teacher, an illustrator, but then began to develop her signature style. Considered the first British contemporary painter, she was the first woman to be awarded the International Prize for painting at the Venice Biennale. She has compared her work to nature, "It (the eye) should feel caressed and soothed, experience frictions and ruptures, glide and drift...One moment there will be nothing to look at and the next second the canvas seems to refill, to be crowded with visual effects.”

Venice Biennale-Contempory Art Art exhibit that happens every two years in Venice, Italy.