PETER HALLEY - WordPress.com

PETER HALLEY A slide lecture by BILL SCHOTT

Peter Halley Background  Born September 26, 1953 in New York.  Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts from 1967-1971(14-18).  Graduated with degree in art history from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut in 1976.  Received a MFA from the University of New Orleans in 1978.  He returned to New York to live in 1980.  His first solo exhibition was held at International with Monument in 1985.  Since then he has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions. Including:       

Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany in 1989 The capc Mus仔 d'art contemporain de Bordeaux in 1991 The Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1997 The Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Japan in 1998. The Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris in 1995 The University of Buffalo, New York in 1997 The Museum Folkwang, Essen in 1998

Backgound continued--->  He has also participated in:    

the 1985 Sao Paulo Biennial, the 1987 Documenta, the 1988 Carnegie International and the 1987 and 1991 Whitney Biennial.

 He has also published critical writings that can be found in two collections of essays from the 1980s and 1990s.

Artistic Concerns  Peter Halley aims to make paintings that have an immediate and explosive visual impact through scale, hard-edged form and color.  Day-Glo and acrylic paints and areas of stucco texture are used to create subtle or brilliant effects  His starting point is a conception of geometry as a metaphor for society.  The paintings are depictions of the social landscape, of isolation and connectivity.

Peter Halley, Black Cell, 1985, 90 x 105 inches

Peter Halley A Perfect World, 1993 acrylic, Day-Glo acrylic and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 90 x 147 3/16 inches

Peter Halley Dig-Dug, 1997 acrylic, Day-Glo and metallic acrylic and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 74 x 140 inches

Peter HALLEY Pulse Generator 2000 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 87 x 74 ins / 221 x 188 cms

Peter HALLEY Anti-Trust 2000 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 103 x 66 ins / 261.6 x 167.6 cms

Peter HALLEY The Road Home 2000 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 80 x 45 ins / 203.2 x 114.3 cms

Peter HALLEY Loaded 2000 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 90 x 61 ins / 228.6 x 155 cms

Peter HALLEY Objective 2000 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 73 x 78 ins / 185.4 x 198 cms

Peter HALLEY Privilege Level 2000 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 78 x 65 ins / 198 x 165.1 cms

Peter HALLEY Superbundle 2000 Acrylic, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 108 x 118 ins / 274.3 x 299.7 cms

Peter HALLEY Power Reach 2000 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 84 x 84 ins / 213.4 x 213.4 cms

Peter HALLEY The Deep End 2001 Acrylic, Day-Glo and pearlescent acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 89 x 81 ins / 226.1 x 205.7 cms

Peter HALLEY Incoding Rules 2001 Acrylic, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 64 x 57 ins / 162.6 x 144.8 cms

Peter HALLEY Flash of Panic 2001 Acrylic, Day-Glo and pearlescent acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 77 x 71 ins / 195.6 x 180.3 cms

Peter HALLEY Sous le Sable 2001 Acrylic, metallic acrylic and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 66 x 49 ins / 167.6 x 124.5 cms

Peter HALLEY Out Now 2001 Acrylic, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 66 x 49 ins / 167.6 x 124.5 cms

Peter HALLEY Ancillary Control 2001 Acrylic, Day-Glo, pearlescent and metallic acrylic, and Roll-a-Tex on canvas 73 x 144 ins / 185.4 x 365.8 cms

Peter Halley 2004 Cell, Two Prisons, Stacked 70" by 45"acrylic, roll-a-tex/canvas

Peter Halley 2004 Horizontal Prisons 54" by 48"acrylic, roll-a-tex on canvas

Peter Halley 2004 Stacked Cells and Prison 70" by 36" acrylic, roll-a-tex on canvas

Peter Halley 2004 Horizontal Prison, Prison 63" by 36"acrylic, roll-a-tex on canvas

Peter Halley 2004 Cell, Prison 72" by 48" acrylic, roll-a-tex On canvas

Variations in the Cell Pattern  His sociological theme extends to his work in other media.  His installations combine flow charts and wall works derived from digitally manipulated and cartoon imagery.  These explore social systems, hierarchies and apocalyptic narratives such as the Exploding Cell series. Exploding Cell Series.  The Cell series primarily focuses on creating variation within the cell patterns.  It tries to slip the cell of its central location by multiplying the image.  The juxtaposition of panels revels color interaction and dynamics.

Exploding Cell Series - made on graph paper lines he used the lines as a framework

- The relationship between upper and lower panels becomes more indistinct. -There is a sense of new spatial depth. The interaction of the colors on the planes causes an illusionistic effect of depth that mimics the sections of relief

Peter Halley in his studio

Historical Influences  The rectilinear compositions of Halley recall Barnett Newman, Piet Mondrian and Jospeh Albers.  The play of color and the use of day-glo reminds of Andy Warhol’s diamond dust in the 1960’s.  The work also falls in line with the non-figurative tradition of Marc Rothko and Ad Reinhradt.

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian developed an independent abstract style where he would reduce the Image to its primary geometric shapes. This over simplification became more graphic In its development. There is a heightened understanding for composition in his work

Joseph Albers

 His working philosophy was to build carefully and meticulously with sturdy materials from a base of simple, fundamental forms too increasingly complex shapes.  Albers became a prolific artist, known primarily for his "Homageﾕs to Squares.  He was also one of the first modern artists to investigate the psychological effects of color and space and to question the nature of perception.

Barnett Newman  His works are characterised by the areas of color separated by thin vertical lines, or "zips" as Newman called them.  In the first works featuring zips, the color fields are variegated, but later the colors are pure and flat  Newman's late works, such as the Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue series, use vibrant, pure colors, often on very large canvases

Peter Halley in his studio

“Neo Geo”  Short for Neo-Geometric Conceptualism. This term came into use in the early 1980s in America to describe the work of Peter Halley, Ashley Bickerton, Jeff Koons and others.  Halley in particular was strongly influenced by the French thinker Jean Baudrillard. Their work aimed at a being a critique of the mechanisation and commercialisation of the modern world - Halley referred to as the 'geometricisation of modern life'.  Seeing geometry as a metaphor for society, Halley made brilliantly coloured geometrically abstract paintings which, however, have a figurative basis. They are derived from things such as circuit boards, which Halley uses to represent the individual organisms and networks of contemporary urban existence. The paintings are depictions of the social landscape, of isolation and connectivity.

Jeff Koons

One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank, 1985 Glass, steel, sodium chloride reagent, distilled water, basketball 165 x 78 x 34 cm

Rabbit, 1986 Stainless steel 104 x 48 x 30 cm

New Hoover Deluxe Shampoo Polishers,1980-1986 Three Shampoo polishers, plexiglas, fluorescent lights 142 x 91 x 38 cm