SPOTLIGHT: KC Hall

[Image Description: KC Hall stands on a ladder, adding finishing touches to his mural in the Gallery Lobby. The mural is painted across 2 perpendicular walls in a Pop Art and graffiti style, infused with Pacific Northwest Coast art elements. The colours red, black, white and blue are dominant. In the top left corner, a word bubble contains a statement that reads: “Omg! I heard the potlatch ban is over!” On the right, another word bubble contains the statement: “#Sacred A F.”]

SPOTLIGHT is a collaboration between the Art Rental & Sales Program (AR&S) and the Curatorial Department of the Vancouver Art Gallery. AR&S is a not-for-profit program operated by the Gallery with a mandate of supporting emerging artists based in British Columbia.

In this collaboration, Gallery curators invite an artist represented by AR&S to create a mural on a feature wall in the Gallery Lobby. This special initiative aims to provide new opportunities for emerging artists, as well as to activate the lobby space for thousands of visitors each year.

This current iteration of SPOTLIGHT features local artist KC Hall whose artistic practice stems from handwriting, lettering and graffiti skills developed in high school. Mentored and influenced by many BC Indigenous artists, Hall’s work arises out of the tension between ancient Indigenous skills and traditions and the urban digital world he now inhabits. The skill with which Hall navigates this rift can be seen in his use of formline to create habitat for traditional figures with a distinctively modern twist, successfully combining traditional Northwest Coast design elements with his own distinctive style. KC Hall is from Bella Bella, in Heiltsuk Nation territory on the Central Coast of BC, belongs to the House of Wakas and descends from noted Heiltsuk artist Chief Robert Bell.

Images (above): Installation view of SPOTLIGHT: KC Hall, commissioned mural in the Vancouver Art Gallery lobby, October 26, 2022 to August 22, 2023, Photo: Ian Lefebvre, Vancouver Art Gallery