Reuben Hale

(b. 1927)

Reuben Hale received his formal education at The Art Institute of Chicago during the 1940s. His academic career was distinguished with numerous scholarships, awards and grants.  Hale was instructed in classical modes of representation, and later explored the Abstract Expressionist style, taking instruction from Hans Hoffman and Paul Burlin.  Sculptor Reuben Nakin was also one of Hale’s mentors at this time.  His work as an artist has had an exceptionally broad scope – from painter and sculptor, to illustrator, to set design. Thematically, Hale’s work evidences a clear fascination with the changing role of women in society – women emerging as a stronger presence than ever before in history.  

During the last three decades Reuben Hale's sculptural work has primarily dealt with the change in status of the female in the 20th Century. Recurrent images in Hale's sculpture are that of the adult female as embryo, emerging from a confining membrane; and the female figures exhibiting strength through their confident postures and deliberate forward movements.

Reuben Hale is a versatile artist. In addition to his sculptural work, Reuben has pursued work in various other mediums. His body of work also includes pieces completed in paint, photography, printmaking (etchings, lithographs, and monoprints) and holography. In sculpture he has worked in wood, stone, steel, concrete, bronze and polyester plastics. He is inventive and experimental, and his work shows control and understanding of each medium

Selected Exhibitions

The Art Insitute of Chicago Annual 

Chicago Tribune Annual

Greenwood Foundation for the Arts, Greenwood, Mississippi

Shakespearean Festival Theatre Production, West Palm Beach, Florida

Norton Art Gallery Annual

Dallas Museum

Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana

University of Alabama

Palm Beach Art Council Invitational

Mississippi Delta Art Association

Allison’s Wells Art Colony

Public Library, Greenwood, Mississippi

Allen Gallery, Carbondale, Illinois

Red Cross Designer’s Showcase, West Palm Beach, Florida

Mid-South Annual Exhibition, Memphis, Tennessee

Southeastern Annual Exhibit, Atlanta, Georgia