Artist of the moment……Larry Bell

{ March 15, 2013 @ 1:15 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: chouinard institute, Cubes, hard edged abstract, larry bell, light, vaporised metals }

Larry Bell is an artist renown for working with light and one basic geometric shape, the cube. Rivers makes many different cubes with unique materials. A cube might be covered in vaporised metals and quartz. So the viewer also gets to enjoy the way light reflects off the paper. Larry Bell was born in Chicago, Illinois in the year 1939. Bell works and lives out of Sante Fe, New Mexico and Venice, California. For his artistic education Bell attended the Chouinard Institute.
In this clip a show at the San Diego Museum of Art featuring Bell.

In addition to the boxes Bell enjoys making drawings with vapor. These works are similar to a hologram in the way they reflect light and change as the viewer moves about. With his process it allows for random images, very abstract to appear. As an acrylic artist its similar to using 99% rubbing alcohol and adding it atop a wet glaze to produce free flowing shapes. The main ingredient in his technique is the use of a certain type of film called PET film. Bell first applies the film to paper which is then coated. After working with this method many years he varied it slightly by using cut paper from remnants of scraps from, past works. Bell would make a very large collage from the scraps. These are my personal favorite of the artist’s work because of the many ways the light is reflected.
Bell also developed a style of using a computer to animate stick figures. He then made sculptures out of bronze of the figures. The animated stick figure is also used by the artist Julien Opie.
Bell now has mixed his various methods and developed new works that feature a cube that are not enclosed with metal. Another addition is the additive of vaporized metals to the surface.The process takes place in a vacuum chamber.
Price range information: Highest priced are the glass cubes reaching up to $600,000. Drawings with vapor range from $2,000 to $5,000. Works made with aluminum range from $20,000 to $100,000.
A true artist makes the ordinary extra-ordinary! I have never been so intrigued by a square.Though never seeing his work in person, his work is the epitome of modern art as it incorporates very modern materials with basic shapes.

D!

If you enjoy Larry Bell make sure to check out the art of Karl Benjamin. Benjamin was a world renown hard edged abstract painter born 1925 and he passed away last year. An example of a cube by Benjamin is below.