PETER HALLEY

B. 1953 in New York, NY
Lives and works in New York, NY

Born in 1953 in Manhattan, New York - Peter Halley came to prominence as an artist in the mid-1980s, as part of the generation of Neo-Conceptualistartists that first exhibited in New York's East Village. Including artists Annette Lemieux, Jeff Koons, Sarah Charlesworth, Phillip Taaffe, Haim Steinbach, and Steven Parrino, among others.

Halley’s strict geometric vocabulary of 'prisons', 'cells', and 'conduits' has remained consistent since he first constructed it in the ’80s. Agile studies in discomfort which employ the language of geometric abstraction to explore the organization of social space in the digital era. A sociological diagnostic of the isolating and anonymizing effect of technology on contemporary life.

Halley's paintings explore both the physical and psychological structures of social space. He connects the hermetic language of geometric abstraction - influenced by artists such as Barnett Newman and Ellsworth Kelly - to the actualities of urban space and the digital landscape. In the 1990s, he expanded his practice to include installations based around the technology of large-scale digital prints.

Halley is also known for his critical writings, which, beginning in the 1980s, linked the ideas of French Post-Structuralist theorists such as Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard to the digital revolution and the visual arts. From 1996 to 2005, Halley published Index Magazine, which featured in-depth interviews with emergent and established figures in fashion, music, film, and other creative fields.

Having also taught art in several graduate programs throughout his career, Halley became the director of graduate studies in painting and printmaking at the Yale University School of Art, serving from 2002 to 2011.

Halley's work has been exhibited extensively around the world. Noted exhibitions include the Sao Paolo Biennale, the Whitney Biennale, and the 54th Venice Biennale. Halley’s work is represented in such museums and art institutions as CAPC Musee d'Art Contemporain, Bordeaux; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Des Moines Art Center, Iowa; The Tate Modern, London; the Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Japan; Museum Folkwang, Essen; and the Butler Institute of American Art, Ohio.

Halley lives and works in New York City.