Peter Halley's Abstract Geometries Take Over Venice's Magazzino del Sale

Peter Halley's immersive installation 'Heterotopia I' opened at the historic Magazzino del Sale 3 in Venice, transforming a 40-meter tunnel into a vibrant exploration of space and language. Curated by Gea Politi and promoted by the Accademia di Belle arti di Venezia and Flash Art magazine, the exhibition draws on Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopias—real spaces that disrupt ordinary syntax and meaning. Visitors enter through a house-like structure into a room where a text by writer Elena Sorokina covers the walls as a wallpaper, with each word graphically doubled to create a blurring effect that undermines readability. This sets the stage for subsequent rooms filled with Halley's signature fluorescent, multicolor, and gold geometries, evoking microchip circuits and urban grid plans. The installation features collaborations with younger artists Lauren Clay, Andrew Kuo (who created murals for each of the eight rooms), and R.M. Fischer (who contributed a large fetish object at the end). Halley's work, rooted in postmodernism and digital culture, takes on an emotional dimension in this Venetian setting, with dramatic shifts between warm and cool registers, including a central black-and-white room with a faceted volume. The exhibition runs at Magazzini del Sale, Venice, in 2019.