Thoughts & Observations on Time & Space

December 31, 2022 marked the last day in my studio space of twenty years. Twenty years. Thousands of images created, breeding grounds for over 80 shows, tens of thousands of hours of work, collaborations with curators, gallerist, collectors and friends, hundreds of studio visits and tens of thousands of photos… my own and those taken by guests, documentation of moments beyond counting posted online and now lost in some parallel space of ones and zeros. It got me thinking about what is a studio beyond the standard definition. How a space can affect your work, how work effects the space and how those lines so quickly blur. A studio is a sovereign nation for personal expression, a temple of sorts, a sanctuary, a therapist, a laboratory, your favorite happy hour bar, hang-out lounge and occasional bedroom. It fills with energy becoming something beyond imagination… a kind of physical manifestation of the inner workings of an artist’s mind, where thankfully, there is an exit.

Composite image of the studio floor & walls December 31, 2022.

A studio is a place that fills with memorabilia. Objects, odds and ends that catch your attention or imagination at some point throughout the years, each of which serve as a reminder of something you wish to explore in your work. Some objects don’t reveal their purpose for years, piling up in various spaces, forming a kind of ad hock hierarchy, changing meaning over time until one day the chance juxtaposition of mindset, object and process collide, and new works are born.

Studio floor in 2018.

Then there is the patina of a space… the result or fallout of a somewhat aggressive attack on my canvases. Over the years my studio had become a work of art in itself, a somewhat surreal environment where it became like standing in a painting while making paintings. A hall of mirrors where standard time was put on pause. Many days I would get every bit as involved in  the floor and walls as I did anything else. The studio was a consistent access point to a twenty-year trip down the rabbit hole.

Studio floor 2020

I now find myself at a crossroads in my artistic journey, open to re-evaluating my creative process, finding new perspectives and eventually a new space where the journey will no doubt continue anew.

So, as I bid farewell to one space, I am filled with gratitude for all it provided and excitement and curiosity for the next. Thank you to everyone reading this who have shared some of that space and time with me.

 I hope you enjoy these musings and a look at a few of the photos of the footprints left behind.

Studio floor 2022

A few looks back…

New print series celebrating Infinite Jest

For the past several years I have been involved in creating a 26 panel, 78 foot long painting titled “Infinite Jest”. It is nearly complete and to borrow a phrase from the rock canon, what a long strange trip it has been… I will share more about that in a future post/news letter (scroll down for images). Today I am please to announce the release of a new print series drawn from the creation of this work. There will be ten different prints, each in an edition of 20, signed and numbered. Each print features my tramp stamp (Felix) as a window into different images of the painting. I have taken thousands of photos during the creation of this painting, and the images i have chosen for this series are of ephemeral moments during the painting process. I say ephemeral because I work in layers, and many of these areas seen in the prints have change considerably or have been painted over completely. I felt this would be a way to share a little piece of that journey with you, a piece that may actually fit on most walls. The first in the series is “Infinite Laugh” and it is 12”x17” printed on german rag paper that has been hand torn, singed an numbered. They are priced at $400 each, email me at john@artistjohnbell.com to collect yours and reserve future prints in the series to collect them all. Number 1 of 20 (below) has already been sold. Thanks for taking the ride with me this far…

peace,

j

“infinite laugh” edition of 20, the first in the series of ten prints.

John Bell in studio 2 with “infinite jest”.

John Bell in studio 1 with “infinite jest”.

Detail from “infinite jest”.

Detail from “infinite jest”.

Detail from “infinite jest”.

Daily Annihilation #6, Portrait and a Dream 1953, after Jackson Pollock

This painting is a reinterpretation of one of Jackson Pollock‘s later works “portrait and a dream”. Over the years Pollock’s painting has been the subject of widespread interpretation, not being a scholar I will leave that debate to the critic‘s and tell you what it meant to me. In 2006 I began the daily annihilation series, which were re-interpretations of Jackson Pollock paintings seen through the lens of the style I was developing at the time that was eventually coined" “post modern mashup”… which combined elements from various periods throughout the history of contemporary art. The title of the series “daily annihilation” was drawn from a phrase in art critic Harold Rosenberg’s 1952 essay “The American Action Painters” where he compared the painters of the time such as Willem de Kooning, Franz Klein and Jackson Pollock to heroic existentialist, working without regard for conventional standards of beauty, dismissing everything that came before them in the effort to create what became abstract expressionism. He called this day to day battle in the studio their daily annihilation… to me that just felt like a very apt description of what it was to be an artist searching for an original voice, maybe sans the existential heroics. Fast forward to 2018 a decade past this body of work, I returned to it once again inspired by Jackson Pollock‘s later work. In 1953 Jackson was battling personal issues while searching for a new way to express himself with the drip, feeling he had said everything he had to say with his current technique, this was one of the pieces where he seem to bring more of himself into the work, seeing it as both a self portrait and a map of his inner thoughts. At the time I was going through a lot of change and personal upheaval in my own life, and connected with his painting as a symbol or a gateway through those times, channeling that connection and inspiration into not just this painting, but into inspiration and direction in my future work and life. I made two paintings in this period, the other being “passing through eternity’s gate” where i drew similar parallels and inspiration from van Gogh’s later work, in particular “Wheatfield with Crows” which I’m pleased to say was acquired by a collector the day it was completed (scroll down to see an image of that painting and a couple of the dh paintings from 2006). Daily Annihilation #6 is currently on display at ONE Modern Art and is available for acquisition. Contact me for details and to set up an appointment for a private viewing.

peace,

j

Jackson Pollock’s “A Portrait and a Dream” 1953

John Bell in the studio working on “daily annihilation #6”

Bell in the studio with “daily annihilation #1 in 2006

“"daily annihilation #3” at the POP SHOP show SIZE MATTERS in 2009

Bell in the studio with “passing through eternity’s gate”, acrylic and oils on canvas 120” x 72”

Detail of “passing through eternity’s gate”

I See The Flowers & The Flowers See Me

“Memento mori” is Latin for: “remember you will die.” ... The basic idea of this philosophy is that if people remember their mortality, they will lead more vibrant lives, live in the present, and take advantage of opportunities rather than postpone them until tomorrow. A basic memento mori painting would be a portrait with a skull like Picasso’s “Goat’s skull, bottle and candle” or the object/symbols seen in the Vanitas still life, both posted below.

“I see the flowers & the flowers see me” is my not so subtle meditation on the idea, which was an inescapable subject for us all these past eighteen months. Using my favorite brush, the mallet to reflect the intensity of modern life and as a reminder that beauty can be found in even the most turbulent times. Side note, it was also cathartic as hell to paint in this manner. The bust was used in several ways, as a traditional symbol of the temporary nature of beauty and worldly possessions. It is also an extension of my works rehabbing kitsch versions of classical sculptures, returning them to a higher art form. It is now available for acquisition, email me for details and to arrange a viewing at ONE Modern Art. Mixed media, 48” x 72” x 12”, detailed images posted below.

If you have made it this far thank you for taking the time, I look forward to seeing you all in person this spring and summer.

peace,

j

Picasso’s “Goat’s skull, bottle and candle”.

Detail of “I see the flowers…”

My favorite paint brush.

Detail of the “flowers”.

The Vanitas still life.