Oliver Hall 2017
‘Cicle, temps, tradició’
The Riba-roja d’Ebre festivities take place in August each year. Villagers have participated in the annual foot race through the streets of the village for a hundred years. Oliver’s work is on the facade of a disused building in the Plaça del Forn. Situated adjacent to the river Ebro, the artist created a large scale monochrome mural depicting a runner’s legs.
“My intention was to express a parallelism between the generations of people connected through time and the river Ebro. Both infinitely flowing and cutting their way through the valley.”
Sardana, a Catalan traditional dance called “La Santa Espina”. This song was banned by the Franco regime. The song is played out across the village megaphone daily. It fills the streets to inform people of activities and important information.
I am based in the group studio space called ‘The Arches’ in Southampton. My practice is representative and abstract drawing. I also work in sculpture, photography and video.
I consider myself multidisciplinary. Although my primary focus, or underpinning practice, is drawing. At times, the concept is better suited to different media. I have room to explore different materials and create new patterns. I learn through experience, trial and error and self-reflection.
Through my own perspective and my cultural background in mind, I am concerned with the roles which we play in life. I focus on existential reasonings for being an artist. And how that corresponds with the subject matter. For example, I do not want to just make ‘Environmental Art’ and reference the subject too directly. Instead, I reflect on it and explore the way in which it is a part of a bigger picture within ‘Human Nature’ or ‘The Human Condition’. Oliver Hall.