Peter Halley was recently awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, recognizing his contributions to the exchange between contemporary art and French critical thought.

Born in 1953, New York City, Halley came to prominence as a central figure in the Neo-Conceptualist movement of the 1980s. He uses his visual lexicon to examine the technological forces that regulate daily life. Known for his use of fluorescent colors and synthetic Roll-a-Tex surfaces, Halley embraces materials that are anti-naturalistic and commercially manufactured.  
 
Halley’s work has been the subject of major one-person exhibitions at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (2024); Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Mudam), Luxembourg (2023); the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California (2015); Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Saint-Étienne, France (2014); Museum Folkwang Essen, Germany (1998); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1997-98); and Musée d’art contemporain (CAPC), Bordeaux, France (1991). 

Halley’s work is in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Tate Modern, London, among others.  

Portrait of Peter Halley © Timothy Greenfield-Sanders