Alison Hall’s practice is rooted in ritual, meditation, and repetition. Her works are captivating in their formal complexity and subtlety. From a distance, Hall’s paintings may appear like monochrome color-field works. On a closer look, the paintings reveal unfathomably intricate geometric patterns as light plays across the surface. These graphite line patterns are optical and interactive; they seemingly change as the viewer moves and light shifts. Studying abroad in Corciano, Italy, she delved into 13th century Italian art and architecture, parsing out repetitive patterning within frescoes, ceilings, and floors of proto-Renaissance monuments. Her reflective paintings allude to this Italian style in both design and material, as precise shapes and angles created in graphite overlap imperfect and painterly gestures of oil paint, all covering a rich layer of Venetian plaster. Grounded in the weight of deep blacks and blues, the imposing paintings still seemingly float as the viewer is transported to the ceilings of Renaissance chapels—glorious yet mysteriously temporary. Born in Virginia, Hall received her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from Hollins University, Roanoke, VA, and her Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from American University, Washington, DC (2001, 2004). She has exhibited at Philip Slein Gallery, St. Louis, MO; Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York, NY; The Arts Club of Washington and the Katzen Museum at American University, both, Washington, DC; Kunstgaleriebonn, Bonn, Germany; Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA; Claiborne Robertson Board Room at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, in addition to others. Further, she is the recipient of the Bethesda Urban Partnership Fellowship (2011) and a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship (2011). She currently lives and works in Brooklyn.
