Peter Halley New York, NY, USA, b. 1953
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Peter Halley by Nicholas Calcott -
One of the most emblematic artists of his generation, Peter Halley is recognized in the history of contemporary painting as the legitimate heir of American abstractionism.
b. 1953, New York, NY, USA
Lives and works in New York, NY, USA
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From the very start of his artistic career, Peter Halley has responded to the intricate and expansive structure of the urban environment. His paintings, drawings, and Kodaliths depict the city’s systems of movement and communication through diagrammatic representations. Employing a hermetic language of geometric abstraction derived from the works of Kazimir Malevich, Josef Albers, and Barnett Newman, Halley skillfully reimagined their utopian modernist impulse as an embodiment of isolation and confinement. He has developed a concise vocabulary of architectural symbols, which he designates as “prisons” and “cells.” These icons are interconnected by straight lines known as “conduits.” Through this simplified vocabulary, Halley aims to convey the regimentation of the spaces we occupy and how they are shaped by forces beyond our control.
In 1981, Halley started to use fluorescent Day Glo paint, the eerie glow of which mimicked the light of the recently introduced LED screen, and Roll-a-Tex, a powdered paint additive used to create the “popcorn” textured interior wall treatments that were ubiquitous in newly built suburban condos of the time. Halley’s formal experimentation through the decade was driven by a tension between his use of purist geometric form and his embrace of these commercial materials.
Halley rose to prominence as an artist in the mid-1980s, alongside a group of Neo-Conceptualist artists who initially exhibited in New York’s East Village. This group included influential figures such as Jeff Koons, Haim Steinbach, Meyer Vaisman, and Ashley Bickerton. Collectively, they became known as Neo-Geo and Neo-Conceptualist artists. As part of this movement, Halley and his contemporaries utilized irony and pastiche to subvert and comment on the prevailing structural issues of the time. Drawing inspiration from Conceptual Art, they created paintings and sculptures that functioned as a collection of visual symbols, referencing artists and significant moments in postwar art history.
In the 1990s, Peter Halley started producing site-specific installations for museums, galleries, and public spaces that actively engage with the surrounding architecture. His installations incorporate various forms of imagery and media, including painting, fiberglass relief sculpture, wall-size flowcharts, and digitally generated wallpaper.
Halley’s artistic philosophy serves as the foundation for the Neo-conceptualist (Neo-Geo) movement. Through his works, he offers a critical examination of the mechanization and commercialization of the modern world. By employing metaphorical representations of society, Halley explores themes such as the social landscape, human isolation, and connectivity. The seemingly simplistic diagram structures within his paintings serve as a vehicle for dramatizing political and social aspects of life.
In addition to his visual artistic endeavors, Halley works on essays on art and culture in 1981. This diversification of his creative output allowed him to articulate his ideas beyond visual representations. A collection of his essays titled “Peter Halley: Collected Essays 1981-1987” was published by Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in 1988, further establishing Halley as a significant voice in the art world.
In 1996, Halley and curator and writer Bob Nickas co-founded Index, a magazine inspired by Andy Warhol’s Interview that featured interviews with people in various creative fields.
Halley served as the Director of Graduate Studies in Painting and Printmaking at the Yale University School of Art from 2002 to 2011.
The artist’s works were included in the Sao Paolo Biennale, the Whitney Biennale and the 54th Venice Biennale and are represented in museums and art institutions such as:
Musee d’Art Contemporain (Bordeaux, France)
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid, Spain)
Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Des Moines Art Center (Des Moines, IA, USA)
Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, TX, USA)
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (New York, NY, USA)
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art (Kitakyushu, Japan)
Museum Folkwang (Essen, Germany)
Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, OH, USA)
Museum of Modern Art (St. Etienne, France)
Museum of Art in Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
Schirn Kunsthall (Frankfurt, Germany) -
Works
Peter Halley New York, NY, USA, b. 1953
40 Watts, 2017Acrylic, Day-Glo acrylic, Roll-a-Tex on canvas201,3 x 196,2 x 10,1 cmFurther images
“I see my paintings as diagramming the way space is laid out in our culture – from city grids to microchips.” — Peter Halley Reconsidering the work of Piet Mondrian,...“I see my paintings as diagramming the way space is laid out in our culture – from city grids to microchips.” — Peter Halley
Reconsidering the work of Piet Mondrian, Josef Albers, and Donald Judd, Peter Halley employs geometric abstraction to develop his unique approach to painting, defining his renowned iconic style. Masterfully balancing the delicacy of Minimalism with a vibrant color palette, Halley emphasizes the purity of pigments and the tactile quality of technique, exemplifying his iconic rigorous language and bold aesthetic.
Exhibitions
Peter Halley. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Jun 23–Sep 10, 2017
Publications
Peter Halley. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, 20171of 6Exhibitions-
Tatintsian Gallery Selected
Group Exhibition, Dubai 14 Nov - 30 Dec 2022Tatintsian Selected project opens alongside two Dubai landmark events in fall 2022 – Alserkal Art Week and Dubai Design Week.Read more
Gallery showroom will spotlight selected works by such contemporary masters as Ron Arad, George Condo, Mat Collishaw, Evgeny Chubarov, Peter Halley, John Miller and Jenny Holzer. -
Peter Halley
Personal Exhibition 23 Jun - 10 Sep 2017Read more -
Peter Halley
Personal Exhibition 21 Sep - 12 Dec 2010Read more -
Peter Halley
Personal Exhibition 15 May - 5 Aug 2006Read more
Publications-
Peter Halley
2017Hardcover, 96 pagesRead more
Publisher: Gary Tatintsian Gallery
ISBN: 978-5-9909730-1-5
Dimensions: 220×290 mm -
Peter Halley
2015Paperback, 64 pagesRead more
Publisher: Gary Tatintsian Gallery
ISBN: 978-5-9906881-0-0
Dimensions: 220×290 mm -
We can do it
2005Paperback, 50 pagesRead more
Publisher: Gary Tatintsian Gallery
Dimensions: 220 x 290 mm
Viewing RoomsNews-
Peter Halley | Conduits. Paintings from the 1980s
March 31 – October 15, 2023 | Mudam, LuxembourgAssembling thirty key works from public and private collections, 'Peter Halley. Conduits: Paintings from the 1980s' presents paintings alongside previously unseen drawings, sketches and notes from the first decade of... -
Peter Halley | Blocks
June 17 – July 17, 2021 | The Ranch, Montauk, US‘Blocks’ by Peter Halley, an inaugural show at The Ranch, features eight new paintings created from 2015 to 2021 and inspired by the artist’s interest in Hans Hofmann’s late-period experiments... -
Peter Halley | CELL GRIDS
September 26, 2021 – February 13, 2022 | Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, USPeter Halley’s first exhibition in Texas in more than fifteen years, presents a unique series of paintings made from 2015 to the present. CELL GRIDS showcases a surprising vein of... -
Peter Halley | The Mirror Stage
September 8, 2024, – January 12, 2025 | Nsu Art Museum Fort LauderdaleNSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale will present “Peter Halley: The Mirror Stage”, an immersive site-specific installation by Peter Halley beginning September 8, 2024, through January 12, 2025. “The Mirror Stage”... -
Peter Halley | Peter Halley in Spain
October 19, 2024 – February 24, 2025 | Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, MadridThis retrospective, Halley’s first one in Spain since his previous exhibition at the Museo Reina Sofía in 1992, covers the artist’s entire career, from 1985 to 2024. The selection of...
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