{"id":9453,"date":"2018-08-06T09:07:24","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T08:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=9453"},"modified":"2020-09-04T15:31:27","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T14:31:27","slug":"ra250-at-the-fitz-nigel-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2018\/08\/06\/ra250-at-the-fitz-nigel-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"RA250 at the Fitz: Nigel Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigel Hall is one of seven Royal Academicians, who have connections with Cambridge, taking part in RA250 at the Fitz.\u00a0 We asked each to pick a work in our collection that has inspired them and tell us why.<\/h2>\n

Nigel chose a fritware dish, made by an unknown potter from Iran, circa 1260 \u2014<\/strong> circa 1350, on display in Gallery 33.<\/p>\n

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Persian fritware dish, Fitzwilliam Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here, Hall explains why he chose this work:<\/p>\n

Regarding the wonderful Fitzwilliam collection, among the many objects that have fascinated me over the years, I am especially drawn to the ceramic collection, in particular the Persian pieces and a dish decorated with a shoal of fish. The fish are painted on the body, swimming in a whorl around the roundel which contains a rosette with overlapping petals. Both fish and rosette are painted in reserve against a lustred background. As a sculptor who has an enduring passion for geometric forms, and whose origins springs from my observations of the natural world, this dish attracts me both for its intrinsic beauty and for a personal connection.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nigel Hall was born in Bristol, but then moved to the countryside in Gloucestershire.\u00a0 He studied at the West of England College of Art, Bristol from 1960 to 1964 and at the Royal College of Art, London from 1964 to 1967. A Harkness Fellowship took him to the United States from 1967 to 1969.<\/p>\n

Hall recently described his work:<\/p>\n

My work is made in a variety of materials and scale from the small and intimate to outdoor pieces of 10 meters. From large works on paper in charcoal and acrylic to sculpture in birch ply, steel or bronze. Often informed by landscape, they use the language of geometry, utilising the dynamic possibilities of the ellipse. As when walking in landscape, so with exploring sculpture by moving, elements move in relation to one another as in a dance but have a stillness when contemplated at rest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That statement sums up the essence of his shadow-inspired wall objects, and applies even more to the sculptures that can be viewed from every angle.\u00a0 As the spectator moves and changes perspective, shifts occur in the relations of light and shade, movement and stillness, constriction and expansion.\u00a0 Hall\u2019s sculptures inscribe elementary forms into their locus of presentation that inspire a dialogue with the architecture around them.\u00a0 In the many parks and gardens that feature Hall\u2019s massive yet precise and elegant Corten steel or bronze sculptures, the spectator can enjoy a particularly powerful visual experience.<\/p>\n

A solo exhibition of his work was held at the Royal Academy in 2011.\u00a0 In 2017, Hall was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts, London.<\/p>\n

Here we can see Nigel talking about his working practice in a film from 2011:<\/p>\n