Peter Halley
°1953, New York (US) – lives and works in New York (US)
Peter Halley, one of the most emblematic artists of his generation, is recognized in the history of contemporary painting as the legitimate heir of American abstraction. He first became known in the New York art scene in the mid-1980s, before reaching international fame more than 25 years ago as a major figure of geometric abstraction.
The use of industrial materials, synthetic mortar, Day-Glo, Roll-a-Tex, and fluorescent acrylic paint, as well as recurrent patterns of circuits and cells, create Peter Halley’s signature of instantaneous visual impact. For the artist, geometry is a metaphor for contemporary society. His geometric paintings have been engaged in a play of relationships between what he calls “prisons” and “cells” that reflect the increasing geometricization of social space. Inspired by New York City’s gridded urban plan and by his own isolation within it, he imagines the abstract shape as a barred prison cell connected to the outside world through electronic communication.
Peter Halley’s critical approach is not only expressed in his paintings, but also in his articles and essays on post-structuralism, post-modernism, and the 1980s digital revolution.
(courtesy of Galerie Xippas & Almine Rech Gallery)
Peter Halley – exhibition view at K11 Art Foundation, Emerald City, Hong Kong in 2018
Peter Halley – exhibition view at Stuart Shave Modern Art, London in 2007
Peter Halley – in collaboration with Alessandro Mendini, Installation view at mary boone gallery, new york in 2013
Peter Halley – Heterotopia II, exhibition view at Greene Naftali, New York in 2019
Peter Halley – in collaboration with Alessandro Mendini, Installation view at mary boone gallery, new york in 2013
Peter Halley – Unseen Paintings, 1997–2002, exhibition view at Sperone Westwater
Peter Halley’s recent solo exhibitions include Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Mary Boone, New York; Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg; Museum of Art, Kitakyushu; Dallas Museum of Art; Krefelder Kunstmuseen; and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Group shows include venues such as CAPC, Bordeaux; LACMA, Los Angeles; Serralves Foundation, Porto; Kunsthalle Wien; Whitney Museum, New York; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Buenos Aires; and The Broad Museum, Los Angeles.
Peter Halley is represented by the following galleries;
click through to discover more of his work.
Almine Rech Gallery, Paris / Brussels / London
Galerie Xippas, Paris / Geneva / Montevideo / Punta del Este
Galeria Massimo Minini, Brescia
Maruani Mercier, Brussels / Knokke
You can also discover more work of Peter Halley on his own website.
