Born and raised in California, Gary Hall has been painting for more than 50 years. He received his BFA in 1973 and MFA in 1975 from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA. He was the recipient of the first Disney Foundation Full Tuition Scholarship to the Art School at Cabrini in 1970, which remained in place through his MFA graduation in 1975. In 1972, he was accepted into the Whitney Museum Independent Study program with a studio in New York. He was included in the Exhibition Catalog and Show curated by Helene Winer to commemorate Cal Arts tenth anniversary by showing the artists with the most influence in the art world after graduating. Between 1974 and 2001, he had 11 solo exhibitions, 7 in Los Angeles and 4 in New York City, as well as inclusion in multiple group exhibitions. While he has not actively pursued exhibitions recently, he has continued painting. He works and resides in Los Angeles.

• California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA; M.F.A., 1975
• California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA; B.F.A., 1973
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
• Independent Study Program, 1972

In 1975, I considered myself a New Image Painter. I felt I was coming back to images from the other side of Minimal Abstraction via Post Abstract Expressionism,and this has been an ongoing inquiry throughout my work.

My current series, Myths and Legends, combines primitive petroglyph-like representations—symbols of symbols of symbols of Americana, land of the free for many—with the erosion of liberal democracy and social justice for most as the background within the background. Many of the representations I've used are inspired by small, iconic figurines I collected during a brief period when I stopped painting—the time in which I developed my second business, “Whirlwood Magic Wands.” I started working on a lathe, making wooden wands à la Brancusi, which lead to my Hunter-Gatherer series of wooden sculpture, “Grasslands.” After my new business was built and paying off, I wanted to start painting again and knew I needed to keep it simple. I chose “Walking Down the Road to the Lake” as my subject, metaphorically encompassing our earthly lifespans; primitive roots infused with current issues like global warming, oppression, and the loss of freedom as my content; how could I not? Characters from my figurines collection worked their way into my psyche, much as a model might. They began to appear in my work near the end of the Yosemite Valley Series, became exclusive in Myths and Legends and will continue as far down the road as I can see.

In these recent works, cultural icons—archetypes from Aladdin and Pan, from Lincoln to Snow White, which often require childish magical thinking to activate—populate classic American landscapes like Niagara Falls and Yellowstone. These backdrops represent the beauty and power we as a people have owned for my entire life, but which we are now losing to the forces of fear and ignorance and greed. Particularly resonant due to their iconic nature, these paintings reflect America, land of the free and not-so-free, with our historically shared values and vision, shifting due to technology and globalization along with the age-old forces of evil and power and superstition. These are the themes which currently move me to paint.