Fragments: Recent Paintings by Kenneth Hall

Recognizable figures from famous paintings in art history take on new meaning in Iowa artist’s Kenneth Hall’s paintings, to be featured in a Parkland Art Gallery exhibit opening Monday, February 13.

“Fragments: Recent Paintings by Kenneth Hall” will run in the gallery through Tuesday, March 27. An artist reception takes place from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, February 16, with gallery talk by Hall at 7 p.m. and music by the Urbana High School Jazz Band. Hall will provide an additional lecture in the gallery earlier on February 16, at 1:15 p.m.

An assistant professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Painting and Drawing, Hall received a BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design in 2004 and an MFA from Miami University in 2007. His paintings combine realism with gestural forms to give new meaning to imagery that sometimes include recognizable figures from famous paintings. Each painted surface reveals another space, and through swirling, smearing, and pixilation of the media, Hall manipulates each image so that there is a struggle to clearly see what is in the forefront of the picture plane.

“The painting is a place of construction and demolition; I sift through fragmented remains of imagery for things that I can salvage,” Hall said in an artist statement. “Forms are pierced, fractured, inflated, spun, shaken, morphed, and spliced together as I rearrange them in this visual container. Source imagery comes from a multitude of places like nature video-documentaries, sketchbook doodles, and objects like toy dinosaurs, flowers, or cicada shells.”

Parkland Art Gallery’s spring hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Saturday, noon-2 p.m. The gallery will be closed on March 23 and 24 for Parkland’s spring holiday.

To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of the campus. Enter through any door and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point of the first floor, where the gallery is located. The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Parkland is a section 504/ADA-compliant institution. For accommodation, call 217/351-2505.