Nigel Hall

Nigel Hall (HF 1967-69) RA was in his final year at the Royal College of Art when he successfully applied for a Harkness Fellowship. Interested in American art and deserts, he wanted to be based in a city relatively close to Mojave Desert. His fellowship to study sculpture took him to LA (1967-69), and although formally connected to UCLA, he spent much of his time based in his studio in East LA, having driven across the country from New York. In fact, the first time he went to UCLA was for the exhibition of British painting and sculpture held at their gallery, in which he participated. During his time in LA he held a solo show at the Nicholas Wilder Gallery. This lead directly to further exhibitions at Robert Elkon Gallery in New York, a gallery in Germany and his first London gallery which was interested in West Coast artists. On his return to UK, he set up a studio in London and started teaching part-time at the Royal College of Art, later becoming principal lecturer in charge of MA sculpture at Chelsea School of Art. He has held numerous solo exhibitions in Europe, America, Asia and Australia and his work, both sculpture and drawings is held by many public collections around the world including the Tate in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Australian National Gallery in Canberra, the Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum and many more. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 2003 and awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts London in 2017.