Bio
Stephen Francis Hall was born in Marathon, Ontario, a remote town in northern Canada. At the age of six, his family moved to the picturesque, bustling city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Set against the lush green rain forest of Canada’s west coast, cosmopolitan Vancouver provided a fitting canvas upon which the artist developed his unique talent and vision.
Steve began painting and sculpting animals and landscapes at an early age. Throughout his youth he delighted friends and family with his drawings and paintings. In his 30’s he chose to dedicate himself to his art professionally, leaving a career in the oil industry to do so. He began by sculpting wildlife and soon gained some local renown, selling his work in numerous galleries throughout western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Ultimately, the contrasting juxtaposition of Vancouver’s gritty urban environment with its abundant access to wilderness and wildlife dovetailed in Steve’s work. In 1990 he introduced the series “Animal Town Classics.” Bears, hippo’s, cats and dogs anthropomorphized into eminently human, urban scenarios. Blue-jeaned hipster cats now walk upright among beer-swilling dalmatians and bulldogs. A hippo, donning a straw hat, leans out the window of his 1952 Chev Pickup, while another hippo cruises on his Harley Davidson. Meanwhile a smooth-moving, daddio cat puts the moves on a slinky female feline at a swinging dance. In all of these scenarios, Steve draws out of his characters an ineffable but endearing and immediately-identifiable humanity. His work has continued to reflect his life experience. Moreover, his work has also evolved, integrating 3-dimension and 2-dimensional media. In short, the whimsical art of Steve Hall is fresh, engaging, unpretentious and new – a reflection of the artist himself.
