“My work is an expression of my everyday life as a Chicagoan. I work hard as an artist like the Pullman Porter worked hard on the trains. My work is meant to be versatile so I can relate to a universal audience.”
Andrew Hall (b. 1986) has been inspired by urban architecture and transit from an early age, and began drawing at the age of thirteen. Fascinated with the Metra Station and Green Line stop close to his home, he wanted to capture the power of the trains and the local architecture of his West Side neighborhood.
His development in studying architectural forms through careful observation and long hours of intensive drawing reflects his dedication to his craft and his personally driven nature. Though most of his mixed media works are smaller that 8 x 10”, they often take Hall more than a month to complete. He has evolved an equally intensive portraiture style; his subjects stare with arresting gaze at the viewer through carefully chiseled jaw lines and colors so well blended it’s hard to believe they are created with colored pencil. His work exemplifies how an artist can build up an image entirely of minute components to describe a particular place or mood.
In 2015, Andrew was commissioned to design the Chicago Transit Authority’s
47th station. It is located between the two historic and culturally rich communities of Bronzeville and Back of the Yards. “Hall visually unites and commemorates these communities by layering hand-drawn images of iconic architecture and portraits of residents both celebrated and unknown.”-CTA These drawings were fabricated into art glass by Franz Mayer & Co. and installed into the 47th stop. In 2020, Andrew’s work was displayed virtually with the Paris Outsider Art Fair. His Tiffany Dome is also now part of the permanent collection at the Museum Van De Geest in the Netherlands.
Hall spends much of his free time touring the city via the Metra train system, and drawing at cafes. He joined Project Onward in 2004 and lives in Englewood.
