DEBORAH BELL (b. 1957)
Crying Pot III
1998
pit kiln-fired terracotta, wax and charcoal
81 x 14 x 23 cm
Do You Remember Where We Came From IV
2002
mixed media on paper
160 x 120 cm
Lot
2007
mixed media on paper
60 x 57 cm
Medusa
2007
mixed media on paper
60 x 57 cm
Orphée
2007
mixed media on paper
59 x 57 cm
Orphée formed part of Deborah Bell’s solo exhibition Objects of power: memory of metal, memory of wood (Goodman Gallery, 2005–6).
In Bell’s artworks, we frequently encounter the spirit warrior battling shadows and mythic creatures, silent guardians and spirit guides, struggling to emerge from earth or water, journeying horsemen and figures borne along by boats or on the heads of godlike giants.
Her work draws on the legacies of thousands of years of image-making in many cultures to express personal stages in life’s journey and investigate the border been mortality and immortality, matter and spirit, presence and absence, the quotidian and the mythic, the grounded and transcendent.
Bell’s visual language is immediately recognisable, her images simple, stark, symbolic – grounded, silent, still, poised. She is fascinated by ancient civilisations and their excavated artefacts and her work incorporates powerful, totemic images and layered visual, symbolic and iconographic references of past and present worlds. In her iconography, the artist draws from a range of cultures – African, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, early Christian, European…Continue Reading
Red Lion
2001
hand-coloured etching
edition 25/35
120 x 78 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Deborah Bell received her BAFA (Hons) and MFA degrees at the University of Witwatersrand and has lectured at various tertiary institutions, including the University of the Witwatersrand.
She works in a range of media on canvas and paper, as well as producing dry point etchings and large-scale bronzes.
Her earlier more political work has given way to an investigation into the border between mortality and immortality, matter and spirit, presence and absence, the quotidian and the mythic, the grounded and transcendent. She has developed an immediately recognisable visual language, her images simple, stark, grounded and poised.
Bell is fascinated by ancient civilisations and their excavated artefacts. Her work incorporates totemic, symbolic and iconographic images drawn from a range of cultures (African, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, early Christian, European) and philosophies.
A seeker figure recurs in her recent work, journeying via ancient modes of transport such as boats or chariots and often accompanied by lions, hounds, wolves or horses. Other recent work is characterised by a sense of coming home to the human body, to being on this Earth, surrendering the constant quest for transcendence.
Bell has collaborated on various historically important projects with William Kentridge and the late Robert Hodgins.
She works from her studio in Magaliesburg and has collaborated on several projects at the David Krut studios.