Peter Alexander

Peter Alexander (February 27, 1939 – May 26, 2020) was an American artist who was part of the Light and Space artistic movement in southern California in the 1960s. He is notable for his resin sculptures from the 1960s and 1970s.

Early life and education Alexander was born in Los Angeles on February 27, 1939, and was raised in Newport Beach. His family had been residing in Southern California for four generations and operated oil fields. He originally intended to go into architecture. At UCLA, he earned first a bachelor's degree in 1965, and then a Master of Fine Arts three years later. Alexander rose to prominence in the 1960s with translucent resin sculptures. He is credited as one of the key figures that galvanized the Light and Space movement onto the world stage, alongside his contemporaries Robert Irwin, Doug Wheeler, and Larry Bell. He did not receive the same recognition as them, however, partly because of the "varied nature" of his artistic endeavors. A portrait of Alexander by Isherwood's longtime partner Don Bachardy has been displayed at the Laguna Art Museum.

In October 2011, the Craig Krull Gallery exhibited a survey of Alexander's work, including paintings and sculptures from 1970 to 2009 in conjunction with Pacific Standard Time. Alexander was exhibited in Pacific Standard Time museum shows as well, including "Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Center", organized by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, "Phenomenal: California Light and Space" at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and "Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Paintings and Sculpture 1945–1970" at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Themes Alexander was a key figure in the Light and Space movement, with his sculptures tied to Minimalism.

Selected collections Source: Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Minneapolis Institute of Contemporary Art, Minnesota Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House (formerly The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu), Hawaii Museum of Modern Art, New York New York Public Library, New York Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, California San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Stanford University Art Museum, Palo Alto, California University of California, Berkeley University of California, Santa Barbara Vancouver Art Gallery, British Columbia, Canada Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Personal life The brother of New York galerist Brooke Alexander, Peter Alexander lived in Santa Monica, California. He married twice, with two grown-up daughters from his first marriage and a son from his second to artist, Claudia Parducci. Alexander died on May 26, 2020, at his home in Santa Monica at the age of 81.