July 21, 2020 from 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Plexus Projects is pleased to present a solo exhibition of work by Michael Hall. Confluence will be featured in Vitrine, an ongoing screening series of moving image artworks.
*Please note projections are viewed from the sidewalk. The project space is not open during Vitrine screen hours.
Confluence explores how nation-states define sovereignty through their most iconic symbols: their flags. The animated video montage depicts the flags of the 241 countries and territories recognized by the United Nations as they dissolve and amalgamate with one another, forming a polychromatic, hybridized flag of “all nations.” Amidst increased isolationism and reactive nationalism, the abstracted design distorts any simplistic national ensigns, while suggesting the complexities inherent to globalism. The flags are inserted in alphabetical order using the ISO basic Latin alphabet. The ISO basic Latin alphabet is a Latin-script alphabet and consists of two sets of 26 letters, codified in various national and international standards and used widely in international communication.
Michael Hall is an artist and educator whose work is concerned with finding empathy and complexity in situations that are often polarized and oversimplified. His paintings, videos and participatory works address complex interrelationships, systematized aesthetics and the tenuous space between control and protection. Hall has exhibited in multiple venues including the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, Southern Exposure, the Richmond Art Center, the Palo Alto Arts Center and the Headlands Center for the Arts. He is the recipient of several awards and residencies including a 2008 Headlands Center for the Arts MFA Fellowship, a 2015 Lucas Artist Residency Fellowship at Montalvo Arts Center, and a 2016 Joan Mitchell Foundation Artist in Residence Fellowship at the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans. Hall’s work has also been featured in publications such as New American Painting, the San Francisco Chronicle and KQED Arts online. In 2016, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Drawing and Painting at the California State University East Bay. Hall lives and works in Berkeley, CA.