MichaelHall Faculty Profile

Photo of Michael Hall

Michael  Hall

Associate Professor

What makes me unique

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 CollegeBFA, California College of Arts (and Craft)

  • Fall Semester 2025

    Course #SecCourse TitleDaysFromToLocationCampus
    ART 44002ForumTU4:15PM6:45PMWEB-SYNCHOnline Campus
    ART 36101Color & ConceptMW11:00AM1:30PMAE-0278Hayward Campus
    ART 4721XPainting IIIMW2:00PM4:30PMAE-0268Hayward Campus
    ART 27201Painting IIMW2:00PM4:30PMAE-0268Hayward Campus
    ART 47401Figure Drawing IIMW4:55PM7:25PMAE-0286Hayward 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