The theoretical foundation of Halley’s works lies with the transformation of modernist geometric abstraction into ‘prisons’, ‘cells’, and ‘conduits’. This unique artistic vocabulary stems from his desire to connect modernist geometry to the realities of life in today’s megacities and the digital age. Red Cell with Orange Background represents one of Halley’s most elusive and subtle treatments of this theme. The central Roll-a-Tex fluorescent square and accompanying vertical bands are almost indistinguishable from the arrangement of form in a Newman or Malevich. Yet the use of Halley’s ersatz, artificial materials and lack of facture signify that the traditional vocabulary of transcendental geometric abstraction has been deployed with a radically different intent.

Peter Halley was born in New York in 1953. He studied first at Yale University and then at the University of New Orleans where he received his MFA. Also a respected art critic and theorist, Halley is revered for his essays on art and published his own magazine INDEX featuring interviews and profiles of other artists. His artwork can be found in collections worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Tate Modern, London, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, and the Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, among many others.