Bill Hall’s “Westcott World” at On View at Petit Branch Library

Bill Hall’s  “Westcott World” at On View at Petit Library

by Carl Mellor

Bill Hall’s solo exhibition, “Westcott World,” at Petit Branch Library, showcases a selection of his images, created with Adobe Photoshop, and cartoons which he draws free-hand with pen and ink.

The exhibit offers an extended view at work by an artist who’s a familiar figure in the Westcott neighborhood. Every morning he drops off a brand-new artwork at Recess Coffee, 110 Harvard Pl., and Hitham’s Pop Shop, 507 Westcott St.

Each time, he brings in a photoshopped image inserted into a wood frame and accompanied by a  cartoon incorporating a quote and three characters– B.B. Bird, Barky and Shleeb. The quotes come from a variety of sources including Phil Lesh, bassist for the Grateful Dead; Lucy Maud Montgomery, a Canadian author who wrote “Anne of Green Gables”; Ira Glass from National Public Radio; and Black Elk, a legendary Lakota warrior and holy man.

While the cartoons come in a set format, Hall’s images are drastically diverse. They begin with the many photos he takes each week with a digital camera. He photographs facades in the Westcott business district and houses, buildings in the Marshall Street area such as Down Under Leather, 804 S. Crouse  Ave., and downtown scenes. His works have referenced Clinton Square, the Landmark Theater and other subjects.

Hall isn’t a documentary photographer. His pictures, as he calls them, come in various flavors; some of the artworks are surrealistic and some are quasi realistic. They reflect changes he’s made in an original image. Through Photoshop, he might darken an image or add colors, move a building’s exterior slightly, or explore patterns that weren’t present in the preliminary photo.

“Each work is a puzzle,” Hall said, noting that he typically looks at an image a bunch of times before deciding on a final version that will be printed and then displayed at the coffee shop and convenience store.

His work is certainly available for viewing on an ongoing basis at those venues, but the library exhibition is  more in-depth with its presentation of 27 of his artworks. Indeed, viewers will see images that depict the Landmark Theater in lush orange color, portray Clinton Square beneath a turbulent sky and focus on a tree in front of a single-family house. Other works look at Recess’s exterior and a sun seen in blue color, at Columbus Circle and City Hall. The latter artwork emphasizes City Hall’s upper floors, demonstrating Hall’s ability to offer a fresh view of a local landmark.

The images on display at the library are part of a much larger body of work. The artist has shot Recess at night, integrating red and orange colors, and depicted a whirling sky beset by winds that evoke a major storm. One of his signature pieces seems to be based on a scene from downtown Syracuse. It presents four buildings transformed into towers and looking like structures built by an ancient civilization.

Such works   appear on an ongoing basis. Hall began his project back in 2009 when he met with Adam Daino and Jesse Williams, co-owners for Recess, and received permission to show his artworks at their shop, 110 Harvard Pl. After that, he contacted Hitham’s Pop Shop, where he drops off a picture of the day, and other venues. He comes to Cluttered Closet, 742 S. Beech St., and Down Under Leather a couple of a times a month. At those venues, he exhibits few works.

Hall says he sells his pictures from time to time, but that’s not a significant motivation for him. For him, this is a labor of love. He enjoys creating art uncensored, displaying the picture of the day on an ongoing daily basis and meeting the challenge of returning again and again to certain subjects. He’s shot the Westcott Theater several times but always looks for a fresh visual take.

“Westcott World,” his one-man exhibit, is on display through November 30 at Petit Branch Library, 105 Victoria Pl. The library is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and from 9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. Petit is closed on Sundays and holidays; it’s closed for Thanksgiving on November 28 and 28. For more information, call 315-435-3636.

Carl Mellor covered visual arts for the Syracuse New Times from 1994 through 2016. He continues to write about exhibitions and artists in the Syracuse area.