NOIRE

We are pleased to present Blue Prison, a special edition project by the renowned American artist Peter Halley. A key figure in the neo-conceptualist movement of the 1980s, Halley is  known for his use of geometry to express the physical and psychological realities of contemporary urban life. The artist constructs his rigorous geometric abstractions by redefining the square not as an ideal form, but as a unit of confinement. By labeling the geometric forms in his works as either “cells” or “prisons,” connected by colored lines that he refers to as “conduits,” he explores the technologically-determined spaces and pathways that regulate daily life. His work is an attempt to transcend mere form.

Blue Prison, created with vibrant felt and published by Noire, is produced in an edition of fourteen. The work makes use of Halley’s iconic prison here rendered in low-relief layers of laminated felt. The three-dimensional presence of the work establishes a connection between abstract geometry and our compartmentalized existence, highlighting the conditions that permeate our lives.

Peter Halley lives in New York City. He is also known for his essays on art and culture, written in the 1980s and 1990s, in which he explores themes from French critical theory and the impact of burgeoning digital technology. From 1996 to 2005, Halley published INDEX Magazine. He served as professor and director of the MFA painting program at the Yale School of Art from 2002 to 2011. In 2023, the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM), Luxembourg, presented a survey of Peter Halley’s paintings from the 1980s. Halley currently has a retrospective of his paintings in Spanish collections at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza.