Double memory

It is and isn't remarkable that Rick Berry and Phil Hale should come together to make this book. Not remarkable in that they are friends who have worked separately and together and who at times leave unfinished work lying about, challenging and tantalizing with a visual whisper that says, 'Okay, now you take over' - a more vital inspiration, perhaps, than standing in museums or poring over art books.

It is remarkable, though, that somehow out of the "discontinuities of the unexpected universe" two of the most creative artists and best draftsmen I've ever seen should have met at the right time." - Jeff Jones

Lacking formal education—and any desire for it—Rick Berry and Phil Hale have managed to scrape together enough raw talent and baboonish luck to amass an imposing slew of work.

In 1980, they were both fitted with small tracking transmitters causing no pain or discomfort. Since that time their work - along with weight and dental health - has been monitored by a team of leering scientists. Although their paths have crossed innumerable times, both escaped without injury. In fact, they have often been observed frolicking playfully amid piles of paints, brushes and rage, usually liquored up and quite pleased. - Darrel Anderson

I have painted with these guys and I like them. Which I'll probably come to regret. - Jerry Wiest

Rick Berry and Phil Hale blaze across the artistic firmament like a shattered wine glass. In an age when artists are repeatedly performing acts of regurgitation, these boys scramble eggs. - Steve Brown

Inside see them manipulate color and value on a flat surface to indicate the possibility of three dimensions feel your mind and body tested by unmeasurable forces marvel as paper, cloth, colored paste, part of a bird, marvel as chalk, as hair, as carbon derivatives, marvel as option, as choice, as luck and certainty are shuffled, shared, shunted aside to accommodate the both of them. They are a car. They are a sea of wind. They know the difference.