 | | interloper(s) 48" x 16" x 6 neon encased in acrylic box. |
CONTACT: Mary Fresques
mary@artistjohnbell.com
801.599.2087
artistjohnbell.com
Artist John Bell wants privacy...in a very public way.
Salt Lake City, May 19, 2011 - Artist John Bell participates in the Salt Lake Art Center's Lawn Gnomes Eat Your Hearts Out yard sculpture exhibition, May 13th - June 17, 2011.The city-wide exhibition is hosted by The Art Center's 337 Project. The Lawn Gnomes exhibition is designed to bring art outside The Center's walls to public spaces and yards of the 50 participating artists, encouraging people to engage in art and community in a new and exciting way. More info and a tour map visit>>>slart.org.
Bell is widely known for his hallmark pop-influenced and dimensional canvases, but in this case he brings his same intellectual humor and subversive thought process to a medium new to the artist. The piece is entitled interlopers(s) which Bell refers to as a "lawn installation|situation". The sculpture element of the work is an intoxicating blue neon sign with text spelling Private Residence encased in a pristine white acrylic box, which hangs behind a 60 foot wall of glass overlooking the homes' property. Bell reflects that "it is a classic case of art imitating life" which mirrors a real life situation the artist finds himself in more often than he would like. "The only down side to living in mid-century modern home (beside a lack of storage) can be all of the looky loo's, stopping their cars, peering in from the canyon road or peeking through the gate to sneak a photo",says Bell. "I saw this as chance to turn a real life situation into a piece of performance art, using the property in its entirety, a neon sign and the viewers of course as the interloper(s)". All of this is done - claims the artist with a sense of humor fully intact. "Seeing it just cracks me up, the irony of a neon plea for privacy in a glass house is just so oddly in step with the times".
Interloper(s) will be on display through June 17th and then released for public sale. For puchase inquiries contact Mary Fresques.
John Bell is a nationally emerging artist who has been lauded as an" indiscriminate genre-blender." He fuses abstract expressionism, geometric abstraction, pop art as well as many other artistic styles. He employs recurring images of iconic popular culture, snippets of news feeds, and social media references, sociopolitical issues and the ever-fluctuating values of contemporary American culture. Born (1967) in Canton, Ohio, Bell lives and works in Salt Lake City, Utah. His work has been placed in many private collections throughout the U.S. and has exhibited in countless group and solo exhibitions, including Art Basel, Miami, New York's Time Warner Center, Southern Nevada Museum of Art, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, CA and Salt Lake City, UT.
Bell has recently been nominated for The Catherine Doctorow contemporary painting prize. His work and mid-century modern home has been highlighted in the Los Angeles-based, lifestyle, and culture-centric 944 Magazine. Other press accolades include a profile in the national art magazine Blue Canvas (Los Angeles), a cover editorial in Seven Magazine, (Las Vegas), entitled Beyond Pop; The man and message behind the paint. His work and home have also been featured in a cover article in Utah Style and Design, and hailed as an "artist on the rise" by Salt Lake Magazine. He has received numerous acknowledgments and reviews in NY Art World, Blackbook, City Weekly, Salt Lake City, Seven and Deseret Companion magazines (Las Vegas) as well as a host of online publications. He is represented by Mondo Fine Art, Salt Lake City, Brett Wesley Contemporary, Las Vegas, Cancio Contemporary, Miami/New York.
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