Alex Hartley is a UK based artist whose work destabilises our understanding of both iconic architecture and our connection with nature by exploring utopian possibilities and visions. He employs his practice to test our notions of utopia, the individual, and the critical relationship we have with the environment questioning how we occupy the world’s wild places. Hartley’s practice is wide ranging, comprising wall-based sculptural photographic compositions, film-making, climbing, artist publications, room-sized architectural installations, participatory site-specific works, and ambitious works of land-art.
Earlier work focused on the white cube of the gallery space; testing the parameters of the containers of art. This has evolved to explore iconic modernist architectural forms where buildings are considered as social experiments manifested in both the built and natural environments. Hartley’s work encourages us to consider how we experience and think about our constructed surroundings – through surface and line, scale and materials, locations and contexts. Modernist architecture has been a constant touchstone for Hartley. In recent work he has amplified a sense of narrative, of the viewer having arrived at a situation of ambiguous cause and uncertain outcome.
Alongside Hartley’s gallery practice, he has developed a series of challenging and engaged works taking place in the public realm. The ongoing work Nowhereisland has continued to evolve over more than 15-years and resulted in the formation of a new nation from a previously undiscovered island which Hartley had searched for and found in the High Arctic. Durational works such as Dropper, Vigil, and The Clearing (with Tom James) have all involved the artist and groups of volunteers occupying and living within the artworks. Though travelling to remote places is often a catalyst for his work, the outcome of his investigations become social and relational.
Hartley’s work has been a sustained investigation into iconic modernist and dystopian architecture, solitary habitation and communal living, with the construction of sanctuary as an inherent drive to form refuge from the world. Architectural emblems of the counter culture movement are reconfigured or presented as ruins, alongside classic modernist structures where time has been allowed to run-on and nature take over, in large-scale installations that confuse both place and context.
Similarly, in the long running wall-based series The Houses the idea of the boundary is subject to constant re-evaluation – between interior and exterior, private and public space, manmade and natural environments, two and three dimensions, object and image. Narratives of entropy and decay are ever present: as the modern project itself fails, it requires repurposing just as it is being reclaimed by Supernature.
Hartley is represented by the Victoria Miro Gallery, UK
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BIOGRAPHY
1983-84
Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (Foundation Course)
1984-87
Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (BA Hons)
1988-90
Royal College of Art (MA)
2016-20
The Clearing (with Tom James) commission winner for Compton Verney 2017-2022
2017
Fleck Fellow, The Banff Centre, Canada
2015
WINNER Coal Prix
WINNER Arts Foundation Award
2014
Arts Council Grants For Arts
b-Side Festival. Artist In residence Portland Dorset
2013
National Trust for Scotland Artist in residence St. Kilda
2009
Artists Taking the Lead, 2012 Cultural Olympiad commission for the South West
2007
British Embassy, Moscow
2005
Winner of Linklaters Commission, the Barbican, London
2000
Winner of Sculpture at Goodwood ART2000 Commission Prize, London
2004
Shortlisted Banff Mountain book Festival for LA climbs
1999
The Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize, The Photographers’ Gallery
2018
The Houses, Victoria Miro Gallery, Mayfair London
2016
After You Left, Victoria Miro Gallery, London (Solo)
2016-18
A Gentle Collapsing II, Outdoor installation at Victoria Miro Gallery
2011
The World is Still Big, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
2008
Leeds Metropolitan Gallery, Leeds
2007
Edinburgh Art Festival Exhibition, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
2005
Don’t want to be part of your world, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
2003
Outside, Distrito Cuatro, Madrid
2001
Case Study, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1998
Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
1998
Galerie Ulrich Fiedler, Cologne
1997
James Van Damme Gallery, Brussels
1997
Viewer, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1995
Fountainhead, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1995
Galerie Gilles Peyroulet, Paris
1993
Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1993
James Van Damme Gallery, Antwerp
1992
Anderson O’Day Gallery, London
2017-20
The Clearing – Compton Verney House and Park
2016
Gentle Collapsing I – Modernist Ruin – Louisville Kentucky USA
2016
Gentle Collapsing II – Victoria Miro Gallery London
2015
Nowhereisland publication Now here is land
2014
Museums at Night, Culture 24. Market Hall Museum, Warwick
2014
Portland Erratics. b-side festival. Portland Dorset
2012
Artists Taking the Lead, 2012 Cultural Olympiad : Nowhereisland
2017
Yokohama Triennial, Yokohama Japan
2017
Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone UK
2017
Transparency, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool
2016-18
Gentle Collapsing II Outdoor installation at Victoria Miro Gallery
2014
Lookout, Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone
Misbehaving the city, Blaffer Museum Houston USA
A place of which we know no certainty, ISCP Brooklyn , New York
VideoGUD, Mekken, Smedjebacken, Sweden
Buildering: Misbehaving the city, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
2013
ARCTIC, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
in cloud country harewood house Curated by Iwona Blaswick
2012
Focal Points: Art and Photography Manchester Art Gallery
2011
Sing me to sleep, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles
2010
Exploratory Laboratory, Bridport Arts Centre, Bridport; The Exchange, Sturminster Newton
Arts Council Collection Select – The White Show, Cartwright Hall, Bradford, 3rd September – 28th November
2009
Home Truths, Harewood House, Leeds
The Collection, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
2008
Concrete Dreams, APT Gallery, London
Art & Climate Change, Fundación Canal, Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, Japan
The Brotherhood of Subterranea. Kunstbunker, Nuremberg, Germany
2007
Art & Climate Change, Kampnagel, Hamburg
It Starts From Here, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
2006
PLAY: Experience the Adventure of our Cities, Urbis, Manchester
Out of Place, New Art Gallery Walsall
The Ship—The Art of Climate Change, Natural History Museum, National Conservation Center Liverpool Biennale
Renegade City: Units Moved, The Yard, Architecture Foundation, London
The Other Pleasure, American Institute of Architects , San Francisco, Architecture + Design Gallery, San Francisco
International Waters with Archigram, Linda Burnham, Adrianne Colburne, Ginny Cook, Matt Gerring, Alex Hartley, Tania Kovatz, David Maupin, Nam June Paik, Ed Ruscha, Chieko Shiomi, Situationists International, Steven Wolf Fine Arts, San Francisco
2005
XS, Distrito Cuatro, Madrid
Cape Farewell Project, Davis Langdon LLP, London
Miradas Y Conceptos: from the collection of Helga de Alvear, MEIAC, Badajoz, Spain
Encouraging American Genius, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
2004
Looking With/Out, East Wing Collection No.05, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Gifted, University of the Arts, London
2003
In Good Form, Recent sculpture from the Arts Council Collection, Longside Gallery Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Contemporary Collecting: New Art for Manchester, Manchester Art Gallery
Palazzo Delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, Italy
2002
Art + Mountains: conquistadors of the useless, The Alpine Club, London
Looking With/Out East Wing Collection No.05, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
2001
Uncovered, The Gallery, University of Essex Gallery, UK
No World Without You – Reflections of Identity in New British Art, Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Israel
Points of View, Künstlerhaus Dortmund, Germany
Museum as Subject, National Museum of Osaka, Japan
2000
Donation, Towner Art Gallery and Museum, Eastbourne, March
Raw, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Vision & Reality, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
The Poster Show, Cabinet Gallery, London, May
1999
The Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize, The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Sarajevo 2000, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo
Il Casa, Il Corpo, Il Curore, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
Minimum, Galerie Gilles Peyroulet, Paris
Sensation. Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Brooklyn Museum, New York
Postcards on Photography, Cambridge Darkroom Gallery, Cambridge. Touring to: John Hansard Gallery, Southampton (23 Feb – 11 April 1999); Site Gallery, Sheffield (25 April – 6 June 1999); Camerawork, London (19 June – 1 August 1999)
1998 – 99
Sarajevo 2000, curated by Lóránd Hegyi, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Palais Liechtenstein, Vienna
1998
Ewan Gibbs, Alex Hartley, Jason Martin, One in the Other, London
Close Echoes. Public Body & Artificial Space, City Gallery Prague and Kunst Halle Krems, Austria
Fotografie als Handlung, 4. Internationale Foto-Triennale Esslingen, curated by Renate Wiehager, Galerien der Stadt Esslingen, Esslingen am Neckar
Site, Walsall Museum and Art Gallery, Walsall
Sensation. Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
Home Sweet Home, Gilles Peyroulet, Paris
1997 – 98
Private Face – Urban Space, organised by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association, L. Kanakakis Muncipal Gallery of Rethymnon, Crete
1997
Private Face – Urban Space, organised by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association, Gasworks, Athens, Spalins Margaret Harvey Gallery, University of Hertfordshire
Sensation. Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Minor Sensation, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1996
Inner London, Delfina Gallery, London
Abstract/Real, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Wien, Austria1996Wordt Vervolgd, Lumen Travo, Amsterdam
Espaces Construits/Espaces Critiques, FRAC Basse Normandie, Caen, France
Fall Out, Walker Fabrik, Darmstadt, Germany
City Limits, Cadman Studios, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent
Young British Artists, curated by Glenn Scott Wright, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Paddington, Australia and RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
Spacious, Alex Hartley & Willy de Sauter, Battersea Arts Centre, London
1995
Conceptual Living, Rhizome, Amsterdam
Architectures d’Artistes 2, Galerie Gilles Peyroulet, Paris
James Van Damme Gallery, Antwerp
1994
Photo ‘94, Business Design Centre, Islington, London, curated by Sarah Kent
Bienal Martinez Guerricabeitia, Universitat de Valencia, Spain
Notions of Space, Valentina Moncada, Rome, curated by Glenn Scott Wright
Europa ‘94, München, Germany
Architectures d’artistes, Gilles Peyroulet, Paris
1993
Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany
1992
July, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1991
Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
Show Hide Show, Anderson O’Day Gallery, London
Crossover, Anderson O’Day Gallery, London
1990
International Departures, rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam
2001
ABK Architects British Embassy Moscow
2000
David Adjaye Associates, C.A.B.E. Offices, London
1998 – 99
Alford, Hall, Monaghan and Morris, Great Notley Primary School. Winner of 9 awards including building of the year.
1997
Alford, Hall, Monaghan and Morris, Walsall Bus Station.
2007
Alex Hartley: not part of your world, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
2003
LA Climbs, Alternative Uses for Architecture, Black Dog Publishing, London
Alex Hartley, Outside, Lorenzo Fusi, Distrito Cu4tro, Galeria de Arte, Madrid
2001
The Gallery: Uncovered, k. Chatten, P. Sexton, University of Essex, Colchester
Sculpture at Goodwood British Contemporary Sculpture 02/03, Ann Elliot / Angela Dyer, Goodwood Sculpture Park, Chichester
ArtAction, Environmental Justice Foundation London, Sotheby’s, London
Eastwing Collection No.05, Courtauld Institute of Art, in association with Thames & Hudson, London
No World Without you, Andrew Renton, Keith Lawrence & Nechama Gottlieb, Herzliya Museum of Modern Art, Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, The British Council, London
Museum as Subject, National Museum of Osaka, Japan
2000
The Architectural Review – Bus Station, The Architectural Review, London
Kjeld Kjeldsen etc., Vision og Virkelighed (Vision and Reality), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
Sculpture at Goodwood, British Contemporary Sculpture 01/02, Ann Elliot / Angela Dyer, Goodwood Sculpture Park, Chichester
The Saatchi Gift to the Arts Council Collection, Kate Stephens, Hayward Gallery Publishing, London
Art 2000, Business Design Centre, London
A New Embassy for the 20th Century, The British Embassy, Moscow, Foreign Commission Office, London
1999
The Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize, The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Art at Ringier, 1995-1998, Beatrix Ruf, Ringier AG
Young British Art. The Saatchi Decade, Booth-Clibborn Editions, London
La Casa, il corpo, il cuore, Lóránd Hegvi, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Wien
The Architects’ Journal, Educating Essex, Isabel Allen, London
Art of the Epoch, 1997-1999, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo
1998 – 99
Postcards on Photography, edited by Naomi Salaman and Ronnie Simpson, Cambridge Darkroom Gallery
1998
Close Echoes. Public Body & Artificial Space, Olga Malá, Wolgang Denk, Karel Srp, City1 Gallery Prague and Kunst Halle Krems, Austria
4. Internationale Foto-Triennale Esslingen 1998. Fotografie als Handlung / Photography as Concept, Renate Wiehager, Cantz Verlag
Sarajevo 2000, Lóránd Hegyi, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
1997
Sensation. Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, Brooks Adams, Lisa Jardine, Martin Maloney, Norman Rosenthal, Richard Shone, Royal Academy of Arts in association with Thames and Hudson, London
Abstract Real, Lóránd Hegyi, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
Private Face. Urban Space, Henry Hughes & Katerina Gregos
1996
Made in London, Richard Shone/Stuart Evans, Simmons & Simmons, London
Spacious, Kurt Vanbelleghem, Battersea Arts Centre, London, Victoria Miro Gallery, London, Patrick de Brock Gallery, Knokke
1994
Europa ‘94, Junge Europäische Kunst in München, Stuttgart
3a Biennal Martinez Guerricabeitia, Various, Universitat de Valencia
Shark Infested Waters: The Saatchi Collection of British Art in the 1990’s, Sarah Kent Zwemmer, London
Caldic Collection. EEN Verzameling,Verstilde, JNA Van Caldenborgh
1991
Show, Hide, Show, Andrew Renton, Anderson O’Day Gallery, London
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Bailey Collection, Toronto
The British Embassy, Moscow
Contemporary Art Society, London
DG Bank, Frankfurt
Ringier Collection, Zürich
Deutsche Bank Collection
The Saatchi Collection, London
De Beers Collection, London
Caldic Collection, Rotterdam
FRAC Basse Normandie, Caen
Simmons & Simmons, London
TI Group
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
Government Art Collection, London