It’s a long never-ending road to find your voice. He has been in search of it his entire life.

Lou Gabriel A. K. A. Thalo Halo has been an artist in one form or another for almost 30 years. Born 1966 in Illinois, he grew up in a blue-collar hardworking household that did not include art. His access to what was considered ‘fine art’ was limited to his library’s arsenal of the Old Masters, which didn’t necessarily speak to him. Halo’s true art awakening came in the forms of the graffiti-covered walls of Chicago skyscrapers, of the flamboyant spray-painted work onto the cars of the C.T.A. The expressionistic style of public art became a fascination, and after learning about icons like Haring and Basquiat, he found the through-line from graffiti to fine art.

Halo left Illinois for Florida, where he graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 1986.

Halo’s mediums consist of acrylic, spray paint and charcoal on canvas. His work can best be described as street art that you can hang on your walls- portable street art. His artistic lexicon consists mainly of portraits, however he does not consider himself to be a portrait painter. “I use the people to convey my feeling about a subject.” Vivid colors along with his love of text are part of his signature style. Halo’s background in graphic design weighs heavily on his subject matter- combining logos and universal slogans into an acrylic collage on canvas.

“I don’t paint to sell paintings. I paint to express my ideas. People buy my ideas, and they get the painting for free”