Philip Oliver Hale (born 1963) is an American figurative

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

who currently resides in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Early life and education

Early work

Prior to turning to fine arts he worked as an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, doing mostly figurative work. He was apprenticed to/ partnered with American painter Rick Berry.

Current work

His current work focuses on figure as well, in depictions of slightly surreal scenes with strange characters performing various physical feats, usually in a confrontation of some sort. A portrait of former UK

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

by the artist was unveiled in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

on April 23, 2008. Mr Blair sat for the portrait during his final months in office in 2007. He also recently formed the movie production company "unprofessional.com" with his son

Callum Hale Thomson Callum is a Scottish Gaelic name that commemorates the Latin name Columba, meaning 'dove'. Callum was popular among early Christians because the dove was a symbol of purity, peace and the Holy Spirit. St. Columba was one of the most influential of ...

. It specializes in bespoke analogue filmmaking. In 2015, Hale displayed 15 oil paintings and at least 18 pencil drawings in an exhibition titled ''Life Wants to Live.'' The exhibition showed at

Jonathan LeVine Jonathan LeVine is an American art dealer, instrumental in the proliferation of lowbrow and street art on the East Coast of the United States. About LeVine grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. As a teenager, he encountered punk rock music and the p ...

's Gallery in New York and was later published as a book.

Published works

Major works

*''Double Memory: Art and Collaboration'' by Rick Berry and Phil Hale *''

A Monster at Christmas ''A Monster at Christmas'' is a fantasy horror poem by Thomas Canty. The poem, a stranger Christmas fantasy was first published in 1985 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. is a fantasy and science fiction s ...

'' by Phil Hale and Thom Canty *''Goad: The Many Moods of Phil Hale'' by Phil Hale *''Mockingbirds/ Relaxeder'' by Phil Hale *''Sparrow: Phil Hale'' by Phil Hale *'' The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three'' by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, interior illustrations by Phil Hale *''Urge Ourselves Under'' by Phil Hale *''Empire'' by Phil Hale *''Black Crack'' by Phil Hale

Audio

*''Golden Phone Plays Mockingbirds'' by Golden Phone (a band in which Phil Hale and Jon Wygens play)

Book covers

*''Arbitrary Crude'' by Enders Buzcienski *''By the Time I got to Phoenix'' by Paolo Belhassaine *''Candyass, 2 a.m.'' by Willem Barough *''Conspicuity'' by Sanford Pel *''Farther the Shoals, Darker than This'' by Duane Michael Edley *''Fondle'' by Sanford Pel *''Goya'' by B. Grutbauer *''Hero is Angry'' by Y.Carlos Cantor *''Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad *''Hong on the Range'' by William F Wu *''I am Drugs'' by Jayne Reeser *''Insomnia'' by Stephen King'' *''Lungs, Lips and Liver'' by Rena Davrin *''Makes Me Want to Cry'' by Bob Mertz *''Mofo'' by Hooglander Ivanov *''New Black Car'' by James Higgins ''(as yet unpaid)'' *''Relaxeder'' by Carsten Glock *''Shrivel and Deplete'' by B. Grutbauer *''Tendresse'' by Gene Scott Tzerati *''The Male and Female Uro-genital systems: Collected Essays 1992-97'' by Rafael Onlhy *''The Male and Female Uro-genital systems: Collected Essays 1997-99'' by Rafael Onlhy *''The Pornographic Diagram is Incorrect'' by Rena Davrin *''Mary the Very Hairy Fairy'' by Phil Hale and Avalon Hale Thomson He was commissioned by

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

to paint new covers for new editions of six

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...

books, published in 2007: ''

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel ...

and The Congo Diary'', ''

Typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

and Other Stories'', ''

Lord Jim ''Lord Jim'' is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in ''Blackwood's Magazine'' from October 1899 to November 1900. An early and primary event in the story is the abandonment of a passenger ship in distress by its crew, ...

'', '' Under Western Eyes'', ''

The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and Other Stories'', ''

Nostromo ''Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard'' is a 1904 novel by Joseph Conrad, set in the fictitious South American republic of "Costaguana". It was originally published serially in monthly instalments of '' T.P.'s Weekly''. In 1998, the Modern Lib ...

'' and ''

The Secret Agent ''The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale'' is a novel by Joseph Conrad, first published in 1907.. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country (presumably Russia). ''The Secret Agent' ...

''.

Comic Books

Covers *''Flinch'' #1, #11 *''Strange Adventures'' (1999 series) #2 *''Swamp Thing/Lucifer Preview'' *''Weird War Tales'' (2000 series) *''Swamp Thing'' (2000 series) #1, #2, #3 *''Vertigo Secret Files: Hellblazer'' #1 *''Legends of the DC Universe'' #33, #34, #35, #36 *''Vertigo: Secret Files & Origins: Swamp Thing'' #1 *''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' #168 *''Halo Graphic Novel'' Interiors *"''Reunion''", Epic Illustrated #22 *"''In the Future''", Epic Illustrated #29 *"''Knock Knock''", Epic Illustrated #29 *"''Johnny Badhair''", Epic Illustrated #33

Magazines

Covers *''Epic'' December 1985 Interiors *Playboy (July 98) *Playboy (Sep 98) *Playboy (Feb 05) *Imbroglio Magazine (June 5) *Imbroglio Magazine (April 9) *Tripwire Magazine (July 9)

Other published work

*Poster for ''Spectrum 13: Call for Entries'' *Featured in certain issues of ''Spectrum'' annual *Poster for ''Lucca Comics and Games'' 2009 *" Understand?" album by

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

, illustrations by Phil Hale

References

External links

PHIL HALE STUDIO OFFICIAL WEBSITE2012 Studio Tour WebsiteDonald M. Grant Publisher, IncNational Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Phil American contemporary painters Living people 1963 births