Michael Hall Faculty Profile

Photo of Michael Hall

Michael  Hall

Associate Professor

Department of Art

Michael Hall is a Bay Area artist and educator whose recent drawings, paintings, and videos question and rediscover meanings assigned to personal objects and ephemera, and capture casual, poetic daily moments. His recent work has been informed by the development of his child, complexities of parenthood, family dynamics and pandemic domesticity. Through sensitive 1 to 1 scale renderings and complex, layered compositions, Hall focuses on the act of recording; attempting to slow the inevitable march of time through deep-listening and mindful observation. Hall’s renderings of these objects (sometimes along with actual objects) confuse the read of representation and hint at the complexity of belief, how we exchange information, and its impact on our lives.

Hall earned an MFA from Mills College and a BFA from California College of the Arts & Crafts. He is a recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, an Alameda County Arts Leadership Award, and an MFA Fellowship at the Headlands Center for the Arts. In addition to the Headlands, recent residencies include Joan Mitchell Center and Montalvo Art Center. Recent Bay Area solo exhibitions include Catharine Clark Gallery and Townsend Center for the Humanities. Hall has taught throughout the Bay Area, including UC Berkeley, Mills College and 13 years at Creative Growth Art Center, where he began their video production and digital media program. He is currently an Associate Professor of Fine Arts Practice at California State University East Bay.

Professor Hall's work, whether painting, drawing, video or participatory works, is informed by his knowledge and practice of painting.

  • MFA, Mills College
  • BFA, California College of Arts (and Craft)
Fall Semester 2024
Course #SecCourse TitleDaysFromToLocationCampus
ART 27001Drawing IIMW4:55PM7:25PMAE-0286Hayward Campus
ART 27201Painting IIMW2:00PM4:30PMAE-0268Hayward Campus
ART 36101Color & ConceptMW11:00AM1:30PMAE-0055AHayward Campus
ART 3701XDrawing IIIMW4:55PM7:25PMAE-0286Hayward Campus
ART 4721XPainting IIIMW2:00PM4:30PMAE-0268Hayward Campus

Recent Press

Joe Rosato Jr., San Francisco Art Show Highlights Veterans, NBC News Bay Area, Post and air date: November 11, 2016

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/San-Francisco-Art-Show-Highlights-Veterans-400855721.html

Sam Whiting, Art show looks at war’s impact on those who wait at home, SF Chronicle, Published: Wednesday, November 9, 2016

http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Art-show-looks-at-war-s-impact-on-those-who-10601896.php

Jan Worm, Making Out Mark, Exhibition Catalog with essay by Jan Worm, Richmond Art Center

Nina Bozicnik, New American Painting, Issue 121, curated by Nina Bozicnik, December 2015

Tina Case and Donna Conwell, Lucas Artist Residency Profile: Michael Hall, Post date: July 29, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Xw5-iyZSk

Katie McCracken, Artists Speak Podcast – Episode #3, Air date: June 30

http://www.artistsspeak.org/michael-hall.html

Beth Spotswood, “Comfort zones take a hit at ‘Security’”, SF Chronicle, Datebook, Sunday, May 31, 2015

Michele Carlson, “How Artists Use Their Skills to Pay the Bills”, KQED Arts, September 30, 2014

http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/09/30/how-artists-use-their-skills-to-pay-the-bills/

blog.OtherPeoplesPixels.com, “OtherPeoplesPixels Interviews Michael Hall”, May 2012

http://blog.otherpeoplespixels.com/otherpeoplespixels-interviews-michael-hall

Jessica Carew Kraft, “Toxic Art”, East Bay Express, March 23, 2011

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/gyrobase/toxic-art/Content?oid=2533379&storyPage=1

Amos Dai, “Renovation of Old Photos”, The Outlook Magazine, China, Issue #106, Featured Artist, February 2011

http://www.theoutlookmagazine.com/2824/

Lawerence Rinder, New American Painting, Issue 91, curated by Lawerence Rinder, January 2011

California Contemporary Art, September / October 2010, pg. 22

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37590573/California-Contemporary-Art-September-October-2010

DeWitt Cheng, Visual Art Source, Editorial Recommendation, September 2010

http://www.visualartsource.com/index.php?page=editorial&pcID=26&aID=616

Beautiful Decay online, October 2010

http://beautifuldecay.com/2010/10/27/michael-hall/

Boooooooom.com, “Reclamation, paintings by Michael Hall”, October 2010

http://www.booooooom.com/2010/10/28/artist-painter-michael-hall/

Heidi J. De Vries, “Reclamation”, Engineer’s Daughter blog, October 2010 http://engineersdaughter.typepad.com/engineers_daughter/2010/10/reclamation.html

Empty Kingdom, blog post, November 2010

http://www.emptykingdom.com/featured/michael-hall/

 

Recent Solo Exhibitions

2024

Upcoming Exhibition at Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2020

Belongings & Curbside Exhibition, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA, July 11 to September 5

Confluence, Plexus Projects, Brooklyn, NY, July 22

2018

Remnants, Townsend Center for the Humanities, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Jan 29 - May 18

 

 

Recent Group Exhibitions/Video Screenings/Film Festivals/Auctions

2023

Things on Things on Things: A Variation of Still Life Matta Gallery at CIIS, San Francisco, CA, June- September, 2023

2022

35 x 35, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA, September, 2022

Fire and Water, University Art Gallery, Cal State East Bay, Hayward, CA, September 2022

Restart, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA, July-August, 2022

2021

20th Annual Monster Drawing Rally 2021, Southern Exposure, SF, October 9, 2021

ART@CSU,  The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State, March 15, 2021 - April 18, 2021

Shine Together, Southern Exposure Annual Art Auction, Southern Exposure, SF, March 26, 2021

2020

19th  Annual Monster Drawing Rally 2020, Southern Exposure, SF, October 29, 2020

Catharine Clark Gallery / Boxblur / Mullowney Printing, E/Ab Fair 2020, (Online due to pandemic), October 14 – October 28, 2020

DeYoung Open, DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA, October 10, 2020 – January 3, 2021

S.O.S. Flash Art Sale in support of Fair Fight, Track 16, Los Angeles, CA, September 28 - October 8, 2020

FALL 2020 Faculty & Staff Exhibition: Making and Seeing During Covid-19, CSUEB University Art Gallery via AtADistanceGallery.com, September 10 - October 16, 2020

HotHeads Wall, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA, April 18 – September 05, 2020

Box Blur Presents: A Live: Live Printmaking With Mullowney Printing And Guest Artists Julia Goodman And Michael Hall, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA, March 07 – March 07, 2020

Salon Style: Selections from our Art Rental and Sales Program, SF MOMA Artist Gallery,

Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA Mar 12 - ongoing

2019     

Honoring America’s Veterans Presented by SFMOMA Artists Gallery at TPG Global, San Francisco, CA November 1 – Dec 20, 2019

2019 Faculty & Alumni Exhibition: Fall Fusion , University Art Gallery, Hayward, CA, September 10 - October 24

Headlands Center for the Arts 2019 Annual Benefit Auction, San Francisco, CA June 5, 2019

White House, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA May 18 – June 22, 2019

45 RPM, 45 YEARS OF SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA, March 23, 2019

18th Annual Monster Drawing Rally, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

2018  

History in a Minute with Gregory Stoper, Episode One: Abraham Lincoln

Gregory Stoper, Michael Hall, The Other Film Festival 2018, Arts Access Victoria, South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, November 21 - 24, 2018

Passport, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA, October 21, 2018

17th Annual Monster Drawing Rally, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA, October 5, 2018

Art & Activism: Drawing the line, Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, NY, September 26—October 28, 2018

Reclamation, viewing room at Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA, March 24 – May 05, 2018

Confluence, video screening, UMW Media Wall, Hurley Convergence Center, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA, February 1 - 31, 2018

Awards, Nominations and Residencies

2022 SECA Award Nominee

2017 SECA Award Nominee

2016 Joan Mitchell Foundation, Artist in Residence, Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, July-August

2015 Lucas Artist Residency Fellow, Montalvo Arts Center, May- July

2014 Alameda County Arts Leadership Award

2012 SECA Award Nominee

2010 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant

2008 Headlands Center for the Arts MFA Fellowship

Herringer Foundation MFA Award

CSUEB Gallery Committe, Chair

CSUEB Community College Outreach Committe

CSUEB Art Supplies Equity Committee, Chair

CSUEB Lecturer Support Committee

Advisor to the CSUEB Art and Design Club

Member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Arts for CSUEB