About Ken Hale
Kenneth J. Hale was born November 10, 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his B.A. in 1971 at California State University at Long Beach, and then proceeding to the University of Illinois he received his M. F. A in 1973. At the present, Ken Hale is a professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Austin.
As the artist explains, “I want my art to be an ongoing conversation as record of where I’ve been intellectually, emotionally, and physically.”
Hale’s most recent paintings have become mixed – media assemblage works in which painted three – dimensional objects become extensions of the paintings. Hale’s visual vocabulary is consistently thematic. His work is comprised of personal icons, recycled from painting to print and back again. Singular positive images, usually objects, float within various picture planes on a field of negative space with one central image dominating. Hale’s order becomes apparent after exposure to the constant use of his iconography in various combinations. The objects become a vehicle by which the artist narrates his life and imagination.
A technical perfectionist, Hale displays his mastery of mediums with every endeavor. Through the use of color variation, particularly in his prints , and the use of perspective and shading in the paintings, Hale creates the illusion of volumetric shape in space and a sense of depth in the layering of his objects and iconographic scenarios.
Ken Hale has been a recipient of numerous grants, including a Mid – America Arts Alliance grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Works in permanent collections include the chicago Art Institure, the Modern Art museum of Fort Worth, the Huntington Art Museum, the Achenbach Foundation, and the McNay Art Museum. Hale’s works are also included in numerous university collections and United States Embassies.