A Soulful Journey: The Paintings of Ronald Hall
The Susquehanna Art Museum exhibited the work of Michael Ray Charles in a small group show called Post-Pop back in 2001 and the work of Kerry James Marshall in a major group exhibit, I’m Not Here in 1999. Charles’ work, influenced strongly by Pop Art, contains challenging text that prompts a viewer to examine his or her position regarding issues of race, stereotypes, and tolerance. Marshall’s work, like Charles’, approaches these same dialogues with advertising finesse mixed with subtle markers, such as a man’s raised black power salute, to map the direction of the paintings. As on any roadmap, there are always many roads that lead to the same destination.
Ronald Hall is a young artist, an African American from Pittsburgh, and grew up in the same neighborhood “Teenie” Harris had photographed twenty years before Hall was born. Hall’s image making bears a relationship to Harris’ that is neither literal nor immediate. Hall works in the computer gaming industry in Seattle, and his paintings freely associate with gaming graphics. His imagery is rough and edgy, and it is no mistake. The paintings are honest and have a deliberate quality in the strokes of the brush. The content of the work may spark conversations and strong reactions because the paintings’ meanings and symbols are multiple. Looking at Hall’s painting, Irrational Breakdown, there is no way to say definitively, “This painting is about losing one’s mind.” The painting is about many things. As you look at it, you bring your thoughts to it, just as valid as mine or Hall’s. He wants to know what you think about his trying to paint through what he is feeling.
Names like Jacob Lawrence, Chakaia Booker, Faith Ringgold, John Biggers, Horrace Pippin, and Romare Bearden are brand names when museum people talk about African American artists. Thad Mosely, also from Pittsburgh and a contemporary of Harris’, is still working as a wood sculptor and making his name. Harris’ name, big as “Teenie” is, will grow in time. Hall is on one of the many roads following these artists. He will be featured in at least three solo exhibitions in 2005. His work is in the collection of the Tacoma Art Museum. We are pleased to bring his work to Harrisburg, and we will be looking at his career with interest and enthusiasm.
- Rusty Baker, Executive Director and Curator