Peter Halley explores the 'mythic power' of the grid in a suite of three new paintings at Almine Rech's Shanghai outpost (19 March–30 April 2021).
Iridescent colours are partitioned across geometric cells, each surrounded by a border of Roll-A-Tex that gives the paintings a contrast between smooth and sandy surfaces.
Popular in the 1970s and 80s to provide a decorative finish to buildings, Roll-A-Tex has contributed to Halley's 30-year visual exploration of the 'cells, conduits, and systems' that define contemporary society in an age of increasing isolation.
Exploring isolation through the window of technology and its impact on human behaviour, Halley's work finds heightened relevance during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Created during the pandemic, the pink and purple palettes of these paintings could be perceived as 'a declaration of love', as the exhibition's curator, Lu Mingjun, suggests, noting that only love 'can motivate life to be liberated from imperceptible imprisonment and isolation'.—[O]
Main image: Peter Halley, Law of Attraction (2021) (detail). Acrylic, fluorescent acrylic and Roll-A-Tex on canvas. 167 .6 x 152.4 cm. Courtesy Almine Rech.
Sold Waddington Custot
