Stephen Haley

“Interval, 2012 was a print made especially for my survey exhibition, Somewhere About Now curated by Diane Soumilas. It is a ‘virtual photograph’, a virtual architecture constructed in 3D modelling software and overlaid with photographic images before being printed as a Type C Photograph. Filled with artistic and other references, it pictures a generic hotel or apartment block now ubiquitous throughout the world. The windows reflect the external city as an amalgam of iconic building selected from across the world. It speaks of a world where the virtual is actualised along with a fever pitched standardisation.” …Stephen Haley 2020.

Stephen Haley is a renowned Australian artist, celebrated for his distinctive and extraordinary creative vision. In a career encompassing over 25 solo exhibitions, participation in over 120 national and international curated group exhibitions, international residencies, and public commissions, Haley has developed a significant profile as a highly accomplished and innovative artist.

Interval 2012 was acquired for the Glen Eira City Council Art Collection following the artists survey exhibition Stephen Haley: Somewhere About Now presented at the Gallery in 2012. As described by the curator Diane Soumilas in the exhibition catalogue, “Stephen Haley’s artistic practice has teased the boundaries between real and virtual space for more than two decades to convey powerful messages about the rapid contemporary urbanisation, suburban alienation, consumerism, environmental degradation and a continually evolving digital world.”

Using virtual photography of what would be impossible to depict with traditional photography, the works from this series in 2012 extend his ongoing concerns with the increasing condition that exists in contemporary existence and space, with virtual models and simulations of actual space. “An interior view of a transitory futuristic hotel constructed of replicated uninhabited standardised contemporary living spaces is visible in the majestic lightjet photograph Interval 2012.”

Stephen Haley’s work is represented in major public gallery and museum collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, Bendigo Art Gallery, RMIT University art collection, City of Port Phillip, La Trobe University Art Collection and many private collections. He has received numerous awards, national and international residencies and grants since 1993 and an academic profile. He is currently Senior Lecturer (Visual Art), Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne.

(excerpts from catalogue essay by Diane Soumilas, Beyond the Mirror published in Stephen Haley: Somewhere About Now, Glen Eira City Council survey exhibition catalogue, September 2012, pp. 5-13.

Work from Council’s Art Collection