Peter Alexander was a pioneer of the southern California-based “Light and Space” movement, and a seminal figure in the Los Angeles art scene. Central to Alexander’s lifelong exploration of materials was an intense focus on light and its manifold effects and qualities, as expressed in genre-defining sculptures, paintings, drawings, and prints. 

Alexander was an avid surfer, immersed in 1960s L.A. surf culture. When he found the polyester resin he used to repair his boards had hardened into the circular shape of the Dixie cups holding the liquid, he knew he had discovered a new material for his artistic practice. This happenstance moment led to the luminous cast sculptures that defined the artist’s early career. 

From 1965-1972, Alexander worked with these resins, producing his subtle, radiant, gently-hued sculptures that appeared crafted from light itself. In 1972, he turned to painting, drawing, and printmaking, developing an almost Impressionistic handling of media as he continued to describe light, suffusing his works with color and a palpable sense of atmosphere. Alexander’s vision was one of creating a generative object – an entity that appears to emit its own light and energy. 

Peter Alexander earned his B.A. (1965) and M.F.A. (1966) from the University of California, Los Angeles prior to which he studied with Louis Kahn in the University of Pennsylvania’s Architecture program. Alexander was the recipient of numerous honors and awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1980) and the California Art Award (2014). He was artist-in-residence at institutions including California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA, 1970-71), University of Colorado (Boulder, CO, 1981), and Sarabhai Foundation (Ahmedabad, India, 1983). 

Alexander’s work has been widely exhibited worldwide since the mid-1960s, including at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Museum of Modern Art, New York; the San Diego Museum of Art, CA; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; and the Centre Pompidou, Paris; among others. His work is held in numerous institutional collections, including: The Getty, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others. 

In 1999, the Orange County Museum of Art (Newport Beach, CA) mounted a retrospective exhibition titled “Peter Alexander: In this Light”. Recent exhibitions include: The Bunker Artspace: Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, West Palm Beach, FL (2024); “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s–1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA (2024); “Mapping an Art World: Los Angeles in the 1970s–80s”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA (2023); “Light, Space, Surface: Selections from LACMA’s Collection”, Los Angeles County Art Museum, CA (2023); and “Light & Space”, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark (2022).