Hala al Khalifa paints from the soul. Her life is reflected in her art, but not in a way that excludes the viewer. Instead we are invited to see and feel things that are at once new but strangely familiar.

I first met Hala when she was studying for a Master’s degree at the Slade School of Art in London. The first works I saw were beautiful tablets of words. Expressions of love, longing and loneliness interwoven with passion, emotion and conflict. Whilst I was unable to ‘read’ the actual text, I was invited to experience the painting.

More recently Hala has moved towards figuration. Her figures are anonymous but are not strangers. There is intimacy and tenderness but also a sense of separation. Hala approaches themes of universal significance but in quiet and personal way. Her own life and individual views certainly influence her paintings but they do not dictate our response.

Education

1999 – BFA Tufts University and The School Of The Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
2002 – MFA Slade School Of Fine Arts, UCL, London, UK

Group Exhibitions

1993 - Bahraini Women Art Show Mother & Child Welfare Society
1993 - Art Exhibition held for the American Mission Hospital 100th Anniversary, Bahrain
1994 - Bahrain Historical & Arceological Society
1998 – Bahraini Contemporary Arts, Sharjah Art Centre, United Arab Emirates
1998 – Arab Contemporary Artists, Tunisia
1999-2001 – Annual Art Show, Bahrain National Museum
2001 - Art Biannual, Cairo, Egypt
2002 - Graduate Art Show, Slade School, UCL, London
2002 – 2005 – FarmiloFiumano Gallery, London
2007 - Bahrain National Museum
2008 - Windows of Separation, solo exhibition, Fiumano Fine Art, London
2008 - October – ArtLondon, Chelsea, showing with Fiumano Fine Art
2009 - 20/21 International Art Fair, London, showing with Fiumano Fine Art
2010 - Fiumano Fine Art Christmas Exhibition
2011 - Dialogue, Al Markhiya Gallery, Qatar