McClain Gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of the works by acclaimed contemporary artist Peter Halley. Halley explores the post-industrial world of high-tech design through precise organizational structures reminiscent of electronic circuit boards and compressed virtual space. Architectonic forms reference the controlled shapes of prison cells and windows, while metaphoric pathways lead the eye away from the central compositional elements. Working consistently with brilliant, synthetic paints on canvas, Halley investigates the sheer optical sensation of fluorescent colors. Rigid geometric systems convey both urban alienation and high-energy activity in these large, high-impact paintings. Infinite variations of color combination within his signature angular compositional formats continue and expand upon historic formal artistic traditions.
As professor of art and director of graduate studies in painting and printmaking at Yale University, Halley plays an important role in academia in addition to his work as a practicing artist. His published critical writings have strongly influenced the discourse of contemporary art. Born in 1953, Peter Halley holds degrees from Yale University and the University of New Orleans. Solo exhibitions of his art have been presented at major museums throughout Europe, the United States and Asia, and his paintings are found in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Exhibition catalogue available