Hap Tivey
The Helios works are designed to elicit responses unique to the individual, with reports ranging from a peaceful coexistence between mind and body to more cognitive responses, such as a kinesthetic experience of visual energy. Moreover, after several minutes of watching a work, the viewer's separation between themselves and the object becomes less obvious, and for some, it may even disappear entirely. The beauty of perceiving highly saturated color in shifting hues suggests an attempt by the artist to capture the infinite color combinations created by the sun, as well as the inner visions of someone who has achieved enlightenment. In the artist's words, his work pursues the concrete experience of light as well as the emotional and theoretical implications it holds for the human experience.
Hap Tivey
(b. 1947, Portland, OR) Hap lives and works in Brooklyn and Freehold, NY. He holds a BFA from Pomona College, Claremont, CA, and two graduate degrees from Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University). Over the past five decades, Tivey has exhibited extensively across the United States and internationally, establishing himself as a seminal figure within the Light and Space movement.
His work is held in major public collections including the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, NY; The Museum of Modern Art, NY; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; The Menil Collection, Houston, TX; Chase Manhattan Collection, NY; Pomona College Museum of Art, Claremont, CA; Portland Art Museum, OR; and several University of California museums (Irvine, Riverside, and Santa Barbara), among others.
Tivey was privately commissioned by leading collectors of the 20th century, including Christophe de Menil, Giuseppe Panza, and Claude Picasso. In recent years, his work has experienced a marked resurgence, with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art acquiring two major works in 2022 and renewed interest from prominent Light and Space collectors such as Chris Jenner and the George Merck Art Foundation (GMAC).
