[1] He studied art at Goldsmiths College under Jon Thompson and achieved the joint highest mark graduating alongside Gary Hume and Ian Davenport in the YBA year of 1988.
[3] The show attracted media attention and his work was featured in the Telegraph Weekend Colour Supplement as well as the BBC 1 O'Clock News;[4][5] the auction surpassed expectations making £500,000 with Gales's selling for over four times the estimate.
[7] Gales's early metaphysical works incited him to be included in a number of largely conceptual exhibitions such as A Spiritual Dimension in 1989, a major touring exhibition organised by Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery along with former Goldsmiths tutors Brian Falconbridge, Michael Kenny and Carl Plackman and including Craigie Aitchison, Tess Jaray and Bob Law and supported by works from the Arts Council Collection as well as that of the Royal Academy.
[8] Due to the small scale of Gales's works at this time, he was invited again from 1991–1992 to show with Craigie Aitchison in another touring exhibition which was curated by Gillian Jason called Cabinet Paintings which also included Frank Auerbach, Howard Hodgkin, Euan Uglow and Sarah Raphael.
"[9] This resulted in a long series of metaphysical paintings that have more recently undergone some radical changes from spare, singular, kinetic images of varying focus through to carefully designed minimal works bordering on abstraction.