British abstract painter Harry MC travelled to Margate this past weekend for the opening of Bridget Riley’s highly-anticipated exhibition, “Learning to See,” at Turner Contemporary. The exhibition, which spans six decades of the artist’s optical experimentation, features her iconic bands and curves against the sweeping light of the North Kent coast.
For Harry, whose work delves into rhythm, structure, and color through the medium of stripes, this visit was a part of his ongoing World of Stripes project. This project aims to document stripe paintings, artists who paint stripes, and any other architectural or optical experiences connected to linear abstraction.
“Standing in front of Riley’s paintings, one is reminded that perception is active,” observes Harry. “Your eyes don’t simply receive the stripes; they negotiate them. The geometry may be fixed, but everything you feel keeps shifting.”
Turner Contemporary, named after the renowned artist J.M.W. Turner, is celebrating its connection to British light during the 250th anniversary of Turner’s birth. Outside the gallery, Antony Gormley’s cast-iron sculpture, “Another Time,” stands on Fulsam Rock during low tide, providing a quiet and uncanny contrast to Riley’s controlled visual intensity. The nearby studio complex of Tracey Emin adds to the concentration of contemporary art energy in Margate.
Inside the exhibition, Riley’s vertical bands, diagonals, waves, and curves are presented in a sequence that rewards slow and careful observation. Harry took photographs of the galleries for reference, capturing the physical responses of visitors of all ages to the rhythmic compositions—leaning in, stepping back, and tilting their heads to experience the pull of the works.
“For stripe painters, Riley’s legacy is not just optical,” Harry notes. “It’s about discipline. She proves that a strict visual grammar doesn’t limit creativity, but rather, it opens up endless possibilities within its boundaries.”
Harry’s recent fieldwork has taken him to the reopened rooms of Van Gogh’s hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and the works of Sean Scully at the Estorick Collection in London. These trips are part of his research for the World of Stripes project, where he investigates how color behaves in different geographies and contexts, turning travel into a structured studio practice.
Harry MC’s large-scale stripe paintings are gaining attention from international collectors through his expanding World of Stripes platform. His studio in Bath, located just steps away from Jane Austen’s former home and in close proximity to Thomas Gainsborough’s historic studio, continues the city’s long tradition of artists working with British light, now through a contemporary geometric lens.
“Learning to See” will be on display at Turner Contemporary in Margate until May 4, 2026.
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