Rago Auctions

Aligned with the neo-conceptual movement of the 1980s, Peter Halley builds his rigorous and sparse geometric abstractions using his own architecture of “prisons,” “cells,” and “conduits” – rectangles and rectangular groupings joined by lines. For Halley, these simple structures reference his grid-inclined predecessors like Josef Albers and, in their beginnings, presciently gestured towards a future defined by electrical systems, digital connectivity, and physical isolation. As Halley reflected, “I was consciously trying to map the space that contemporary life was turning into.”