CV, Articles, and Exhibition Reviews
Christopher Hall is an artist, writer, and former alligator wrestler living in Atlanta, Georgia. He received his BFA from the University of Georgia in Athens, earned his MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, and is currently a part-time assistant professor of art at Kennesaw State University.
The following CV provides a summary of his copyrighted work as an artist and educator, a bibliography with links to articles written about his work, articles authored by him, as well as selections from exhibition reviews.
Education
MFA in Painting, Temple University – Tyler School of Art (2008)
BFA in Painting, Minor in English Lit, University of Georgia (1998)
Teaching Experience
Kennesaw State University - Part-time Assistant Professor - (2015 - Present)
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center - Instructor - (2015 - Present)
Abington Adult School - Instructor - (2009 - 2011)
Tyler School of Art - Teaching Assistant - (2007)
Awards and Recognition
Presentation - (Metamodernism in Art, Politics, and Popular Culture) – CETL, SPACE Conference (2018)
Juror and Judge for Virginia Highlands Summerfest (2018)
Juror for Georgia Artists with Disabilities annual exhibition (2016)
Wonder-Rot Walthell Fellowship (2016 - 2017)
CETL Travel Grant for 8th International Painting Symposium, Torun, Poland (2016)
U.S. Representative, 8th International Painting Symposium, Torun, Poland (2016)
Graduate Review Panel Member, University of the Arts (2008)
Guest Critic, Advanced Drawing, Tyler School of Art (2008)
Tyler Nomination, Joan Mitchell Grant (2008)
Teaching Assistantship Award Tyler School of Art (2007)
Scenic Artist, Town and Gown Theater, Athens, GA (2001)
Lecture on William Blake’s Merger of Art and Text, University of Georgia (2000)
UGA Nomination, Sigma Tau Delta writing award (1998)
STAR student award (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) (1997)
Ty Cobb Scholarship (1995)
HOPE Scholarship (1994-1998)
Bibliography
2021 - September - Arts ATL - Cullum’s Notebook: “Book as Art, Volume 9: Muse”; lockdown photos at 378 Gallery
2021 - June - Voyage ATL - Daily Inspiration - Meet Christopher Hall
2020 - June - Shoutout Atlanta - Meet Christopher Hall: Artist and Professor
2018 - June - Voyage ATL - Thought-Provokers: Check Out Christopher Hall's Artwork
May - Terry on the Town: The Melted Edition
March - Terry on the Town: The Infinite Absurd Edition
February - Cullum’s Notebook: Romanticism revived and revised at three Atlanta exhibitions
2017 - November - Terry on the Town: The Soirée Over 40 Edition
September - Terry on the Town: The Hurricane Edition
June - Terry on the Town: The Feel Good Edition
2008 – Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof’s Artblog, for “Semi.”
“Semi” essay, by Elizabeth Grady
“Two-Fold” essay for the catalogue.
2007 – “Swap-Meet” essay for the catalogue.
2004 – November, “All Magazine” article “Alexander the Great”
2002 – March, “Flagpole Magazine” review of “Raw Womyn”
March, “It’s Not My Fault” self published magazine
2001 – September, “Flagpole Magazine” review of “Ir/rational”
July, “Athens Banner Herald” interview and review of “Redemption”
June, “Flagpole Magazine” review of “Discount Artwork . . . Always”
2000 – January, CBS affiliate WNNG Toccoa, interview for
“Male Fire Paintings” and “Ahab at Starbucks” for their “Georgia Journeys” program
1999 – June, “Flagpole Magazine” review of “Dead Sleep Dreaming”
1997 - July, “Red and Black” interview for “Half Birth Performance”
Articles for Burnaway.org
August 30, 2018: Blue is the Rarest Color: Language and Visual Perception
October 29, 2017: On the Meaning of Carnival and Our Festivals of Debauchery
April 6, 2017: The Humiliation of the Sabine Woman
January 18, 2017: The Color Pharmacy
August 8, 2016: Panorama Ray Remembered at Eyedrum
June 24, 2016: Adolph Gottlieb's "Duet" at the High Museum
May 5, 2016: Moving Toward Metamodernism
December 12, 2015: A History of Paint (Part Two)
September 10, 2015: A History of Paint (Part One)
August 10, 2015: Permanent Residents: Anselm Kiefer's "Draco" at the High Museum.
June 16, 2015: What's Your Day Job? - How Artists Make Ends Meet.
Exhibit History
2023 - Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery, Tyler School of Art Temple University - “I Really Like That!”
2022 - Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw State University - “Part-time Faculty Exhibition”
Eyedrum, Atlanta, GA - “Professors of Art: Georgia”
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta, GA - “Faculty Exhibit”
Malcolm Blowers Gallery, University of North Carolina, Asheville, NC - “Diapason”
2021 - Gallery 378, Atlanta, GA - “World Champion of Art” (solo show)
2018 - Blue Mark Studios, Atlanta, GA - "The Infinite Absurd" (solo show)
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "The Drawing Show"
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "The South Show"
2017 - Gallery 874, Atlanta, GA - "Art Crush" Burnaway Auction
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "Love and Death"
J-Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "Untitled Group Show"
MOCA, Atlanta, GA - Pin-Up Show
Colony Square, Atlanta, GA - Hambidge Auction
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "Feel Good Now!" (two person show)
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "South Show"
Art-Haus, Atlanta, GA - "Medicine" (solo show)
IDEA Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, Atlanta, GA, Georgia Lawyers for the Arts Auction
EBD4, Atlanta, GA, "40 Over 40"
Swan Coach House, Atlanta, GA, "Little Things"
The Gallery at Irwin, Atlanta, GA, "Debut Show"
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA, "Nick O'Time"
AmericasMart, Atlanta, GA, 2017 Toy Party
2016 - Mason Fine Art, Atlanta, GA - Burnaway Auction
Lionheart, Atlanta, GA - One Year Anniversary Show
Goat Farm Fine arts Center - Hambidge Auction
District Museum Torun, Torun, Poland - 8th International Painting Symposium
Barbarka Foresty School, Barbarka, Poland - 8th International Painting Symposium
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "The South Show"
Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA - "Nick of Time"
2015 - X - Change Gallery, Atlanta Georgia - "Untitled Art Show."
2011 - Mattress Factory, Philadelphia, PA - "Halloween Show"
2009 – Look at This Gallery, Chang Mai, Thailand – “Superheroes/Supervillains”
2008 – The Ice Box, Philadelphia, PA – “Semi”
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA – “Two Fold”
Tyler School of Art Penrose Gallery - MFA Thesis Show “King of Painting”
2007 – Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI – “Swap Meet”
University of Lincoln, Lincoln, England – “Works on Paper”
2005 - Lowery Gallery, Athens, GA – “Halloweenie Show”
2004 – Elevation Gallery, Atlanta, GA – “Square Peg . . . Round Hole”
Elevation Gallery – “Impressionism in the New Millennium”
Elevation Gallery – “In the Realm of Eden”
2003 – The Forum at DeFoor, Atlanta, GA – “Daughters of the New World”
The Forum at DeFoor – “Abra Macabre,” featured artist
The Forum at DeFoor – “American Strip Tease”
The Forum at DeFoor – “Abstract x 3”
2002 – Tasty World, Athens, GA – “Climax Catalyst” Sound Art Performance
Athica Art Center, Athens, GA – “Raw Womyn”
Blue Sky, Athens, GA – “Sarasota Flower Series”
2001 – Lyndon House, Athens, GA – “Celebration of Local Artists,” juried
AU Prefecture, Atlanta, GA – “A Taste of Honey”
Clayton Street Gallery, Athens, GA – “Ir/rational”
Lowery Gallery, Athens, GA – “Redemption,” solo show
Lawmart, Athens, GA – “Discount Artwork . . . Always”
Strand Salon, Athens, GA – “Sarasota Flower Series”
The Classic Center, Athens, GA – “First Annual Classic Center Celebration of the Arts,” juried
Krog Street Warehouse, Atlanta, GA – “Fifth Annual Arts Celebration”
2000 – Starbucks Gallery, Athens, GA – Project Safe Art Benefit
Starbucks Gallery, “Ahab Revisited”
Blue Sky, Athens, GA – “Offensive Art Show”
Mono 09 Pod Gallery, Birmingham, AL – “Athens Artists”
Athens Area Humane Society, Benefit
Lowery Gallery, Athens, GA – “Mother’s Day”
The Globe, Athens, GA – “Mental Health Benefit”
1999 – Blue Sky, Athens, GA – “Male Fire Paintings”
Starbucks Gallery, Athens, GA – “Ahab at Starbucks”
Lowery Gallery, Athens, GA – “Relationship Show”
Lowery Gallery – “Dead Sleep Dreaming”
Quality Warehouse, Athens, GA – “Red Fly Artist’s Guild”
1998 – Blue Sky, Athens, GA – “For Madmen Only,” performance, installation
Lamar Dodd School of Art, Athens, GA – “For Madmen Only”
Lamar Dodd School of Art, “349,” BFA exit show
1997 – Lamar Dodd School of Art, Juried Exhibition of Paintings
Lamar Dodd School of Art, “Shine,” STARR student award
Lamar Dodd School of Art, “Divination Series”
Farsoozio’s Gallery, Athens, GA – “Divination Series”
Soule Gallery, Athens, GA – “Divination Series”
Soule Gallery, “Leanan Sidhe/Half Birth,” performance, installation
Soule Gallery, “Dis Pater,” performance, installation
The Atomic, Athens, GA - “Mathematics,” performance, installation
40 Watt, Athens, GA – “Feedback Fed Back,” performance, installation
Clayton Street Gallery, Athens, GA – “First Annual Juried Art Exhibition”
Sanford Street, Athens, GA – “Valentine’s Day,” guerilla street art
Nantahala Ave, Athens, GA – “Domestic,” performance, installation
Permanent Collection
Barbarka Foresty School, Barbarka, Poland
Curation
2018 - Blue Mark Studios, Atlanta, GA - "All That Is Holy"
Excerpts from Recent Reviews
For Two Fold:
If Strijkan’s scenarios imply a masculinity thrown on its head or otherwise gone haywire, Chris Hall’s Seminal Sacrifice attacks a daily male ritual head on. Hall’s painting has an expressionistic force indebted to the jagged contours and textures of Clyfford Still’s abstraction, including its heavy-handed color which Barnett Newman famously referred to as “buckeye.” Yet far from abstract gestural statements, these mutlimedia works feature a series of overtly symbolic images competing for our attention with more mundane elements. The title of Seminal Sacrifice is painted in imperfect capital letters in a highlighted area of blue, above a giant black shape which partially resolves into a bull, surrounded by areas of vivid gold, blue, green, and white paint applied in variously thick and gooey or flat and diaphanous textures. A crude graphite graffito of a male bird-headed figure engrossed in theatrical self-stimulation overlays the bull’s head. The work’s heavy-handedness is tempered by the banal humor of the attached calendar at lower right, labeled “Masturbation schedule” and appropriately marked with “X”s on certain days. The jarring contrast between those two written messages gives the work its central import. Hall states that “Humanity, with all its foibles, strivings, successes, and sins, is infinitely more interesting to me than anything that is polished, perfected, theoretical, or removed.” The immediate discomfort of entering the personal world embodied in such a work may be necessary to receiving its humanist message, which is conveyed through the specific juxtaposition of painting and collage with drawing—as writing, as graffiti-like scrawl, as diaristic revelation, and as crude sketch, all in dialogue with each other. It is the hybridity of this process, propelled by the intimacy and openness of drawing, which made the work possible. As Hall notes, “By introducing some the aspects of my drawing into my most recent painting, I have been more willing to take risks not only with materials, but also in subject matter. The process of raw immediacy and play shows in the result, and allows the viewer a sense of intimacy despite the often heavy and dark subject matter of my work.” The pathetic rawness of this work is its strength and its weakness, but the elements of writing and drawing introduce playfulness and humor, saving it from neo-expressionist kitsch.
For Swap Meet
Christopher Hall’s exuberant collage paintings draw from a tradition of caricature and comic art, as well as from “outsider” and “folk art” styles. In Cyclops Santa (2006), Hall’s scribbly pencil underdrawing and coloring “outside the lines” express the child-like excitement at work in this scene – Santa Claus, but he’s a Cyclops! And he has to fight Godzilla! Likewise with Monomaniac, a Captain Ahab character from Moby Dick is rendered in simple collage shapes full of exuberant gusto.
What People are Saying about Christopher Hall
Collected from Critical Reviews and Comment Books
1. “. . . Rich, beautiful things are happening here.”
2. “The most brilliant paintings I ever set my eyes upon. It was like staring into the face of God and Him telling me I am His greatest creation. It was like making love in space. I can die now a content person.”
3. “This made me so happy!!! THANK YOU!!!”
4. “It’s like you traveled all of the world, imperiously, all in your head (or at least in your studio). So f***ing strange – I like this.”
5. “Pretty f***ing amazing.”
6. “You kind of scare me but I guess this show makes sense.”
7. “Your show was the best this year.”
8. “Much like Kiefer and Cy Twombly – This is a good thing . . . well Kiefer at least.”
9. “. . . Funny, quirky, and playful.”
10. “One of the greatest painting shows I’ve ever laid my eyes upon . . . I like your brain.”
11. “I really enjoyed your show and I think it was one of the better ones I’ve seen this year . . . strong paintings, strong drawings, excellent presentation . . . I really enjoyed picking your brain . . . your humor infused artwork is both refreshing and encouraging.”
12. “. . . A true entrance into the mind of the artist . . . not bowing to the traditions of the museum.”
13. “No velvet rope!”
14. “I love you!”
15. “Ambitious, unfussy . . .”