Lee Hall 2016

LEE HALL Ce l ebra t i on

Lee Hall in her Massachusetts studio

L E E HA L L Ce l ebrat ion

September 17 - November 5, 2016

Essay by Lauren Piemont

625 South Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 704.365.3000 gallery@jeraldmelberg.com www.jeraldmelberg.com

THREE RIVERS FOR HERACLITUS 2014 Mixed Media on Canvas 48 x 72 inches

HADLEY AUTUMN FIELDS 2015 Mixed Media on Canvas 48 x 72 inches

Celebration

Lee Hall has long been lauded for her talent as an abstract landscape painter. Scholars, critics and viewers alike have taken note of her use of color and the mystical reverence for nature she achieves with it, drawing parallels between her interpretations of the physical world and Rothko’s nonrepresentational color fields. While this is a helpful framework through which to view Hall’s work, perhaps one might reimagine a ripe, new possibility within it. What if we considered Hall as a painter of portraits? After all, the power of her work derives from her deft ability to capture the life force emitted from a given place in a given time. Her canvases serve as microscopes under which to see the spirit of what hums just beneath the surface of a field or rock formation. Her planes of color are fortified with solid, vibrant color, washed with soft-hewn textures, or confidently proclaimed in a single brushstroke, and they butt against and push off one another in a robustly dynamic way. The earth is alive, they declare, and this life is both confounding and a cause for celebration. Organic and geometric lines in Hadley Autumn Fields (2015) and Summer Horizon Beach (2012) converge to construct topographical views of each locale. These lines, which read as rivers, roads or natural boundaries, enable us to concretely identify these pieces as landscapes. However, the planes of color that lie between these lines do a great deal to suggest the spirit and feeling of the places. In Hadley Autumn Fields , hints of red peek through rich,

gold expanses to communicate warmth, complexity and the abundance of fall’s harvest, while bright green and yellow hues burst through more softly toned sections in Summer Horizon Beach to convey the spectral mystery and longed-for refreshment of cool breezes drifting over swells of heat on the coast in the summertime. Paintings such as Puglia: Sun Façade I (2015) and Puglia: Sun Façade II (2015) are more ambiguous in subject, but no less atmospheric. In these, strokes of green, red, orange and brown break up and punctuate stretches of yellowand white. The effect is less topographical and more indicative of a magnified look at a weathered, sun-drenched surface. Whether it is walls or rocks that are represented in these pieces is immaterial, because more meaningful statements of wisdom, peace and contentment are expressed through Hall’s delicate yet painterly application of her chosen media. When we contrast these sentiments with this pair’s companion, Puglia Façade Dusk (2015), a piece which reveals the strength, solidity and permanence of the very same subject through a shift in palette to deep purples, blues, turquoises and more saturated yellow, we are granted even deeper insight into this place. When viewing Lee Hall’s work, one might pause at each piece and allow it to divulge its unspoken messages. Lee Hall is certainly a brilliant abstract landscape painter, but we should not overlook the life, depth and character that lie at the core of her work and make it truly sing.

Lauren Piemont

PUGLIA-FACADE DUSK 2015 Mixed Media on Canvas 60 x 60 inches

PUGLIA-SUN FACADE I 2015 Mixed Media on Canvas 50 x 50 inches

PUGLIA-SUN FACADE II 2015 Mixed Media on Canvas 50 x 50 inches

SUMMER HORIZON BEACH 2012 Mixed Media on Canvas 40 x 48 inches

UMBRIAN HORIZON 2013 Mixed Media on Canvas 24 x 36 inches

CAPTIVA-HORIZONS FOR THE WILLETS 2015 Mixed Media on Canvas 60 x 60 inches

TOWARD THE ISLAND 2016 Mixed Media on Canvas 20 x 16 inches

VALLEY WINDOW-APRIL MORNING 2014 Mixed Media on Canvas 60 x 60 inches

UMBRIA CASTLE SUMMER SHADOWS 2012 Mixed Media on Canvas 20 x 20 inches

UMBRIA CASTLE NIGHT 2011 Mixed Media on Canvas 54 x 84 inches

ROME-DEAD BIRD SHADOW 2013 Mixed Media on Canvas 20 x 20 inches

VALLEY SUMMER-DUSK FIELDS 2014 Mixed Media on Canvas 40 x 40 inches

UMBRIA HORIZONS-FALL 2016 Mixed Media on Canvas 18 x 24 inches

CRETE-MOCHLOS MORNING 2015 Mixed Media on Canvas 50 x 50 inches

VALLEY-ALMOST AUTUMN 2014 Mixed Media on Canvas 40 x 40 inches

GREEK ISLAND DAY 2014 Mixed Media on Canvas 40 x 40 inches

VALLEY AUTUMN FIELDS 2015 Mixed Media on Canvas 60 x 60 inches

MAINE SAIL SUMMER-CAMDEN HORIZON 2016 Mixed Media on Canvas 30 x 30 inches

MAINE SAIL SUMMER-MORNING WINDOW 2016 Mixed Media on Canvas 30 x 30 inches

Left: VALLEY EDGES STUDY 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 6 x 6 inches

Right: VALLEY FIELD EDGES STUDY 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 6 x 6 inches

Left: VALLEY RIVER EDGES STUDY 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 6 x 6 inches Right: HADLEY DUSK SHADOWS STUDY 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 6 x 6 inches

Below: RIVER STUDY 5 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 4 x 6 inches

Above: RIVER STUDY 4 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 4 x 6 inches

Below: RIVER STUDY 1 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 4 x 6 inches

Above: VALLEY STUDY 1 2016 Acrylic on Canvas 4 x 6 inches

L E E HA L L

1967-70 1965-67 1958-65

Associate Professor, Drew University, Madison, NJ Assistant Professor, Drew University, Madison, NJ New York State University College at Potsdam, Potsdam, NY; Keuka College, Keuka Park, NY; and Winthrop College, Rock Hill, SC SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC Fairweather-Hardin Gallery, Chicago, IL Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Benson Gallery, Kansas City, MO Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Woods-Gerry Gallery, Rhode Island School

b. 1934, Lexington, NC

EDUCATION PhD, New York University MA, New York University BFA, the Woman’s College of North Carolina (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) AWARDS Athena Medal, Rhode Island School of Design Childe Hassam Purchase Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro TEACHING Senior Vice President, Director of Arts and Communications, Academy for Educational Development, New York City President, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI Dean of Visual Arts, the State University of New York at Purchase Professor of Art, Chair of Art Department, Drew University, NJ; Consultant for the National Endowment for the Humanities

1965 1958 1955

2016 2015 2013 1981 1979 1977 1976

1983 1978

1976

1983-92

1975

of Design, Providence, RI Drew College, Madison, NJ

1975-83

1972 1969 1966 1962

Ruth White Gallery, New York, NY Davidson College, Davidson, NC Keuka College, Keuka Park, NY

1974-75

1970-74

1960 1959-60 1958

University of Oregon, Eugene, OR Ruth White Gallery, New York, NY Forum Gallery, New York, NY

1962

Winston-Salem Gallery of Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC Winston-Salem Gallery of Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC New York University, New York, NY Winston-Salem Gallery of Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC New York University, New York, NY University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC SELECTED COLLECTIONS Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY Citibank, New York, NY Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, SC Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ Newark Museum, Newark, NJ New York University, New York, NY Prudential Insurance Company of America, New York, NY Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank, Providence, RI Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC

1960

1958

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC The Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, MN Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Indianapolis Museum, Indianapolis, IN Newark Museum, Newark, NJ Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY Brainerd Hall Art Gallery, State University College, Potsdam, NY

2015 2013 2012

1957 1954-55

2006

1995

1978

1976

Indianapolis Museum, Indianapolis, IN Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY Summit Art Center, Summit, NJ

1975 1974 1973 1970

L E E HA L L

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

ArtNews . March 1977: 149-150.

Beatty, Frances. Art World . January 1977.

Brown, Gordon. Arts Magazine . October 1969.

Browne, Rosalind. ArtNews . October 1969.

Betz, Margaret. ArtNews . September 1975: 112.

Brunelle, Al. Art in America . September – October 1975.

Fouchman, Noel. Arts Magazine . March 1977.

Haxall, Daniel. The Spiritual Archaeology of Lee Hall. Lee Hall: A Survey . November 2013.

Kramer, Hilton. New York Times . May 1975.

Lopes Cardozo, Judith. Artforum . April 1977.

The New Yorker . January 1977.

Russell, John. Art: Cham Hendon’s Worlds Out of Small Beakers. New York Times . February 2, 1979.

Swan, Bradford. Providence Journal . November 1975.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition

LEE HALL Ce l ebrat ion

September 17 - November 5, 2016

Jerald Melberg Gallery Inc. 625 South Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 704.365.3000 gallery@jeraldmelberg.com www.jeraldmelberg.com

Photography by Christopher Clamp

Graphic Design by Gaybe Johnson

Publication Copyright © 2016 Jerald Melberg Gallery Inc. All Rights Reserved

625 South Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 704.365.3000 gallery@jeraldmelberg.com www.jeraldmelberg.com