“One of American contemporary art's most uncompromising voices — painting, sculpture, performance and concept collide with equal force.”
John Bell
No boundary between discipline and idea.
John Bell is an American multi-disciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, mixed media, sculpture and installation, performance, photography, and printmaking. His work is defined by a restless, confrontational intelligence — one that refuses to stay within a single discipline or a comfortable relationship with the art world it critically inhabits.
Bell’s paintings are physically demanding confrontations with material and idea. From expansive canvas tarps in the Architectural Paintings to intimate board works layered with 24-karat gold leaf, his canvases engage the American experience — its politics, its art history, its cultural mythology — with directness and wit. Works such as “in the museums infinity goes up on trial” (2012, 134″×72″) and “i am not afraid of you & i will beat your ass” (2009) announce both scale and intention.
Executive Orders, gold plated steel editions and Architectural Paintings extend this multi-disciplinary scope. Performance, photography and printmaking remain part of his ongoing studio practice.