At a time when many artists decry the antiseptic white box of the traditional gallery as an outmoded form of presentation, there are still some shows, such as Geometry of the Absurd: Recent Paintings by Peter Halley, that make the familiar format feel new and exciting. Nothing but the high ceilings, bare walls, and shiny expanses of hardwood flooring in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Davidson and Colefax galleries could handle the sheer wattage and single-minded intensity on display in this series of eight large paintings created by Peter Halley between 2007 and 2015.
Working within a strict regime of design (the “double stack” motif), palette (bright Day-Glo colors), and materials (acrylic paint and Roll-a-Tex), Halley composes some of the contemporary art world’s most distinctive and recognizable abstractions. These are large paintings that, however powerful they may be in isolation, beg to be seen in series, and SBMA curator Julie Joyce has answered that plea with a resounding “yes” that offers discerning viewers the opportunity to experience the full range of Halley’s vision and message.
The hyper-articulate Halley has never gone back on his initial claim that there’s a fundamental common basis for understanding both minimalism and what was once known as the art of the “New Wave.” In his seminal essay on “Beat, Minimalism, New Wave, and Robert Smithson,” published in Arts Magazine back in 1981, Halley wisely asserted that, despite apparent surface differences between the Beats, the minimalists, and the new wavers, “All three express America's fascination-repulsion for its shallow cultural roots and its vulnerability to the impact of technological change.”