Bridget Riley at Turner—exhibition details announced

Exhibition announced as 'Bridget Riley: Learning to See'

Turner announces title for upcoming exhibition with Bridget Riley as Learning to See. The exhibition title is chosen by the artist, and comes from one of Monet’s letters to Eugène Boudin, written late in life, thanking Boudin for being the first to teach him ‘to see and understand’. 

In addition to announcing the exhibition title, the gallery has announced a year-long public programme to accompany the exhibition. The Clore Learning Studio will be transformed into a dedicated Drawing Studio with the ambition to demonstrate how drawing can be a pathway to creativity, and self-expression. There will also be a conversation with Bridget Riley and the writer Michael Bracewell about the art of Claude Monet.

Learning to See presents a layered view of Riley’s work. Early works from the 1960s and 1980s are placed in dialogue with new and recent works, emphasising recurring motifs that span her career: evidence of an artist who treats the past not as a closed chapter, but as an active ingredient in the present. As Riley herself has said, ‘Abstraction has no time or place.’ 

Riley has been directly involved in shaping the concept of the exhibition. A key focus is her growing body of wall paintings, a format she has embraced since the 1980s, which transforms architecture into immersive fields of colour and light. Turner Contemporary’s unique setting—its proximity to the sea, the Margate light, and the Chipperfield-designed galleries—make it a particularly resonant site for experiencing Riley’s work, which is deeply rooted in the sensations, or experiences, of nature. 

This will be a rare opportunity to see the full scope of Riley’s practice, not as a history of styles, but as a continuous and vital exploration of how we see and feel through colour and form. 

Bridget Riley: Learning to See is on view from 22 November 2025 to 4 May 2026, at Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate.

Learning to See is curated by Melissa Blanchflower, Senior Curator, Turner Contemporary and Bridget Riley. 

The exhibition and learning programme is made possible with generous support. Exhibition Lead Supporter is Galerie Max Hetzler. Exhibition Supporters are The Bridget Riley Art Foundation, David Zwirner, Ryan Taylor, The Firebird Collection, Levett Collection and Museum FAMM Mougins. Bridget Riley Supporters’ Circle members are Cristea Roberts Gallery, Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, Ivor Braka Ltd, The Peter Dubens Family Foundation, Rory and Elizabeth Brooks Foundation, Rothschild Foundation and Christie’s. Learning Supporter is De Ying Foundation. Turner Contemporary receives public funding from Arts Council England and Kent County Council.