Alex Hartley

Alex Hartley was born in West Byfleet, Surrey in 1963. He studied on both the Foundation Course (1983-84) and the honours degree course (1984-88) at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London, and at the Royal College of Art (1988-90).

Hartley's first solo exhibition was with the Anderson O'Day Gallery, London, in 1992, since when he has had solo exhibitions in Antwerp, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne as well as several shows with the Victoria Miro Gallery in London. Since 1990 his work has been included in a great number of group exhibitions in America and Australia, and many of the major European centres for contemporary art.

Hartley's work has been acquired for public and corporate collections in London, Caen, Frankfurt, Rotterdam, Zurich and Vienna, as well as many private collections.

In January 2000 his first outdoor sculpture, Pavilion 2000, made as a result of the Art 2000/Sculpture at Goodwood Prize, was shown at the Business Design Centre, Islington.

Since his early works composed of unfocused images of architectural forms based on black and white photographs, Hartley has continued to make pieces which test our perception. His deceptively simple constructions of glass and metal give hints at their internal form through carefully devised constructions, photographic images and particular lighting. Viewed from different angles and from varying distance, certain characteristics are revealed or come into focus, only to disappear or fade as the viewer moves on. This work is both tantalising and compelling, and his sources range from the forbidding Ronan Point tower block to masterpieces by Mies van der Rohe. Hartley lives and works in London.