ALEX HARTLEY

Well known for his encased photographs of the interiors of galleries, tower blocks and fictitious structures, Alex pursues in his work an innovative dialogue with iconic modernist architecture. Often, Alex's wall based works are sculptural photographic compositions, with images of architectural spaces set inside etched glass boxes creating a haunting, illusory depth. Concerned with the representation of space, these fractured images cleverly toy with two and three dimensions simultaneously.

Alex has also developed monumental architectural installations that create a disorientating fictional space that both perplexes and seduces the viewer. Long interested in the relationship and interdependence between architecture and nature, Hartley most recently has produced photographic works with sculptural architectural elements built up on the surfaces, turning images of actual landscapes into surreal studies of fantastic architectural forms.

Working primarily with photography, often incorporating it into sculpture and installation, Hartley's work addresses complicated and sometimes contradictory attitudes toward the built and natural environments. Encounters with buildings are grounded by conventions and expectations, but Hartley shows us new ways of physically experiencing and thinking about our constructed surroundings - through surface and line, scale and materials, locations and contexts. His practice is wide ranging, comprising wall-based sculptural photographic compositions, room-sized architectural installations and, more recently, unique photographic works with sculptural elements inserted as low-relief into the surfaces of large-scale colour prints. Uniting these works is an investigation of modern architecture and the ways in which it is conceived and presented. Often destabilising ideas of 'iconic' architecture, Hartley's practice allows room for multiple perceptions of and uses for architecture.
 
Alex Hartley has shown in both national and international exhibitions at venues including Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2007), Natural History Museum (2006), Distrito Cuatro, Madrid (2003), The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (2001) and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark (2000).

Represented by Victoria Miro Gallery, UK