trevor bell at eighty - earth air fire water aether
DESCRIPTION
40 page catalogue of the exhibition 'Trevor Bell at Eighty - Earth Air Fire Water Aether' held at Millennium St Ives.TRANSCRIPT
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“ I th ink about th ings tha t exc i te me: convo luted s t ra ta , the eroded and
broken edges o f c l i f f s , the constant in terac t ion o f the e lements , the
movement o f boats on water…
I th ink about the ob jec t and i t s inner image; the ac t iv i ty o f each and
the p lay between the two and I t ry to be s t ra ight forward to remove
unnecessary in format ion.
For a l l the theor iz ing , forma l and conceptua l not ions , the t ru th
o f the mat ter i s tha t I see myse l f as a condu i t - the t i t les come
a f terwards so that I don’ t impose myse l f on the work as i t goes a long.
Then I leave i t a lone.
I have been say ing the same th ing a l l my work ing l i f e , jus t in
d i f ferent ways . ”
Th is was wr i t ten for my 2002 Lydon Contemporary exh ib i t ion in
Chicago and here I am in 2010 rea l i z ing tha t whatever I might con jure
up - I cou ld not , and shou ld not say more.
Trevor Be l l
2010
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Introduct ion
I t i s an enormous pr iv i lege to be showcas ing th i s ext raord inary
exh ib i t ion o f new work by Trevor Be l l to commemorate h i s
e ight ie th b i r thday.
As I wr i te these words , wi th raw memory hav ing recent ly arr ived
back f rom the s tud io, hav ing been confronted by th i s monumenta l
co l lec t ion, I have to p inch myse l f to re-reg i s ter tha t th i s g iant o f
20th and now 21st Century pa in t ing has created these pa in t ings
una ided a t such a grand age. However whi l s t marve l ing a t the brave
and youth fu l energy o f the phys ica l ges tura l mark mak ing i t i s c lear
tha t they cou ld on ly have been ach ieved to such e f fec t a ided by
the wisdom and conf idence o f advanced exper ience. Such a rare
combinat ion i s incred ib ly insp i r ing , indeed mov ing .
Th is a f ternoon whi l s t a t the s tud io I po in ted to a photograph o f Be l l
work ing on an ep ic pa in t ing s tand ing some two s tor ies h igh taken
whi l s t in the USA some years ago. “ I ’ ve s t i l l got i t in me you know ”
Be l l en forced, wi th tha t s tee ly (now fami l i a r ) look wi th assoc ia ted
g l in t in the eye. I have no doubt about i t .
The work i t se l f needs no fur ther in t roduc t ion by me - the
exhib i t ion t i t le suggests enough, and of course the pa int ings themselves
say i t a l l , when seen and when fe l t . I have however p laced extrac ts
f rom se lec ted texts wr i t ten about Be l l ’ s works over the years by way
o f pay ing homage to th i s important occas ion and to a remarkab le
man who’s l i fe t ime has been spent mak ing work o f such impact
and t imeless re levance.
Joseph Clarke
2010
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Windance Three mixed media on board and p ly wood 101 x 98 cm
The Spontane i t y tha t we have ido l i sed s i nce the coming
o f Romant ic i sm as the ha l lmark o f s incer i ty and creat ive dr ive
i s here rep l aced by a t ac t i c a l s k i l l t ha t marsha l s p i c tor i a l
e lements and f i rmly contro l s them wi thout deny ing them the i r
ind iv idua l l i fe .
Norber t Lynton
Ar t Cr i t i c and His tor ian
New Sta tesman, 1964
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Kni fe mixed media on canvas 72 x 83 cm
Trevor Be l l ’ s pa in t ings cover a range wider than most ar t i s t s
would th ink prudent . What makes them so in teres t ing i s tha t h i s
themes run para l le l ra ther than in s t r i c t sequence. . . But a f ter
exper ienc ing surpr i se a t the d i f ference o f the works one beg ins
to unders tand the i r bas ic and pers i s tent themes and f inds a s t rong
sense o f cont inu i ty. . . From 1960 - 1963 Be l l was mak ing pa in t ings
whose in ter ior shapes re ferred to landscape - but to the forces
as much as to the forms o f l andscape; and i t was th i s concern for
what i s bes t descr ibed as dynamics which led h im natura l l y in to
an inves t iga t ion o f the mechan isms o f pa in t ing i t se l f.
John E lder f ie ld
Head Curator o f MOMA New York and Ar t His tor ian
1970
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Anc ient mixed media on canvas 72 x 83 cm
One o f the most important pa in ters work ing anywhere today
i s Trevor Be l l . . . As far as I am concerned [Be l l ’ s pa in t ings ] are
far and away the most or ig ina l and success fu l shaped canvas
pa in t ings - which remain pa in t ings - to have been produced
anywhere. But the task o f jus t i f y ing th i s judgement and o f
exp la in ing , even to myse l f, the reasons for the i r very great
power and beauty i s daunt ing in the extreme, because so much
about the i r const ruct ion, the i r l i tera l appearance and co lour, i s
un ique and there for outs ide ex i s t ing terms o f formal compar i son
and ana lys i s .
Pa t r i ck Heron
Art i s t
1970
Works on paper and s tud ies for pa in t ings s tand up wel l on
the i r own, showing care fu l thought tha t under l ines the b laz ing
pa in t ings . . . Wi th the i r d i sarming appearance o f i r respons ib le
spontane i ty. A tough, exper ienced and t rave l led sens ib i l i t y has
been a t work, mak ing l i gh t - f i l led g lowing pa in t ings which f l i r t
in teres t ing ly somewhere between s t r idency and seren i ty.
Mar ina Va izey
Art Cr i t i c , Author, Curator, Broadcas ter
Financ ia l Times, 1973
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Big Ova l mixed media on canvas 212 x 261 cm
Stop mixed media on canvas 163 x 158 cm
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Bel l has chosen to set be fore us images which, in par t , are
to do wi th the energy o f human touch set aga ins t a p ic tor ia l
space which evokes the pa in t ing t rad i t ion o f evocat ions o f the
sub l ime. In th i s way, encourag ing ly and honest ly na ive in our
contemporary cu l ture which va lues such fee l ings be low the
cyn ica l and the pess imis t i c , Be l l re f lec ts the opt imism which has
a lways underp inned the bes t abs t rac t ar t .
Michae l Tooby
Gal lery Director and Curator
Tate Ga l lery S t . Ives ca ta logue, 1999
Rock mixed media on canvas 163 x 158 cm
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Bel l ’ s immedia te surround ings , and the craggy Corn i sh coas t l ine
in par t i cu lar, prov ided important s t imul i for h i s abs t rac t ions .
L ike the ear ly Kand insky, he o f ten der ived h i s mot i f s f rom the
l andscape, then d i s t i l led them to the po int where the i r or ig ins are
obscured but not los t .
Helen A Harr i son
Art Cr i t i c and His tor ian
New York Times, 2002
F loat mixed media on canvas 163 x 158 cm
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Bel l ’ s ar t i s , in the looses t sense, sp i r i tua l . I t evokes , or re f lec ts ,
an idea o f some abs t rac t force that exceeds mater ia l rea l i ty. . .
In th i s sense, we can see h i s ar t as so l id ly rooted in the va lues
o f 1950’s S t . Ives , where ar t i s t s sought to sa lvage the fantasy
o f u top ian modern i sm for the post-war wor ld through a re-
engagement wi th nature. The dangers and losses o f the modern
wor ld would be compensated through the red i scovery o f na tura l
order and process , and a renewed sense o f ind iv idua l ident i ty
would be es tab l i shed through the exp lora t ion o f forces l a rger
than ourse lves . Be l l ’ s work, one might say, has a lways der ived in
one way or another f rom th i s new sub l ime.
Chr i s S tephens
Head o f Disp lays a t Tate Br i ta in
Modern Pa in ters , 2000
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Trevor Bell
Born in Leeds 1930, Currently living in Cornwall.
Solo Exhibitions
2010 Trevor Bell at Eighty - Earth Air Fire Water Aether
2009 Haste Slowly, Millennium, St.Ives
Nothing Extra, Leeds University Gallery
Moving Right Along, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
2007 White and Colour, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
2006 Before Sea, After Earth, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
Large Works, Waterhouse & Dodd, London
Saïd Gallery, Oxford
2005 Still – The New Paintings, Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Trevor Bell: Heatscape – The Florida Six and Still – The New Paintings,
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth
Calm Squares, Allusive Forms, New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
Recent Work, Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
2004/5 Trevor Bell: Beyond Materiality, Tate Gallery, St Ives
2003 New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
Trevor Bell: A British Painter in America, Florida State University
Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, Florida
The Gulf Coast Museum, Largo, Florida
2002 Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Galerie Pelar Ltd, Greenport, New York
Seven Worchester, Bath
2001 Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
New Millennium Gallery, St Ives
2000 NorthLightGallery,Huddersfield
1999 Stephen Lacey Gallery, London
1998 Hodgell Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Falmouth College of Arts, Falmouth
1996 Illinois Centre, Chicago
1995 Art Collectors Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
Mercantile Exchange Building, Chicago
Marsha Orr Contemporary Fine Art, Tallahassee, Florida
1994 Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
1993 Division of Cultural Affairs, Tallahassee, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1992 Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Jaffe/Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida
1992 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida
1991 Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami
Florida Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida
1990 Foster Harmon Gallery, Florida
Lydon Fine Art, Chicago
Eve Mannes Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Gillian Jason Gallery, London
1989 New Art Centre, London
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Gloria Luria Gallery, Bal Harbour, Florida
1988 Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Charleston College, South Carolina
1986 Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, Florida
1985 Metropolitan Museum, Coral Gates, Miami, Florida
Gloria Luria Gallery, Bal Harbour, Florida
1984 Big Magenta installation, Florida State University Center for
Professional Development, Tallahassee, Florida
1983 Shaped Work from the 60s, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
1982 National Academy of Science, Washington DC
Artspace, Miami, Florida
1981 Intimate Works on Paper, Virginia Miller Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida
Artspace, Miami, Florida
University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
1980 Five Bar exhibited, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Four Arts Center, ICA, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Major Works. Virginia Miller Gallery, Coral Gables, Miami, Florida
1975 Southern Cross exhibited, Bundestag, Bonn, Germany
1974 Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C.
1973 Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1970 Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh
Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery, Belfast
MappinArtGallery,Sheffield
Park Square Gallery, Leeds
1969 Lancaster University Greenwich Gallery, London
1964 Waddington Gallery, London
1962 Waddington Gallery, London
1963 Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford
1960 Waddington Gallery, London
1958 Waddington Gallery, London
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Selected Public Collections
Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Arts Council of Great Britain
American Express
Astra Zeneca, Boston, Massachussetts
Balliol College, Oxford
Nett Bank, Florida
British Council
British Museum
Broward County Courthouse, Florida
Clearwater Federal, Clearwater, Florida
Coca-Cola World Headquarters, Florida
Contemporary Arts Society
Department of Management Services, Tallahassee, Florida
Department of Transportation, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Deutsche Morgan Grenfell
Education Authority, Hull
Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia
Florida House of Representatives, Tallahassee, Florida
Florida Power and Light, Miami, Florida
Florida State University Museum, Florida
Getty Center for the History of Art, Los Angeles, California
IBM Collection, Atlanta, Boca Raton, Florida and New York
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Leeds City Museum
Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
Leon County Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida
McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Northwest Regional Data Center, State University System, Florida
Orlando Aviation Authority, Florida
Park Bank, Sarasota, Florida
Pegasus Solutions, Dallas Texas
Philips International, Eindhoven, Holland
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona
Playboy Corporation Collection, Chicago
Polk Museum, Florida
Prudential Insurance Collection
Regency Group Collection
Ringling Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida
Rouse Company Collection
Rugby Library, Gallery & Museum
Shearson Lehman Hutton Collection, New York
Slaughter and May, London
Southern Bell, Jacksonville, Florida
St Anne’s College, Oxford
St Catherine’s College, Oxford
Tate Gallery, London
Trinity College, Oxford
University of Leeds
University of Stirling
University of Sussex, Brighton
UVU Keleia Collection, Ljubljana
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
WakefieldCityArtGallery
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
John Lewis Group
Terence Disdale Design
Numerous private collections in Europe, Canada and the United States
Prizes and Fellowships
Paris Biennale Major Prize Winner
Gregory Fellow, Leeds University
Italian Government Scholarship
Florida Art Fellowship
Emeritus Professor, Florida State University
Honorary R.W.A
Honorary Fellow, University College Falmouth
Further Reading
Trevor Bell by Chris Stephens, published by Sanson & Company,
ISBN 978-1-904537-88-5
All works in this exhibition 2008 - 2010
Ogam mixed media on canvas 148 x 200 cm
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“This work i s a ce lebra t ion o f l i fe and the ac t o f pa in t ing . Walk up
c lose and a l low the pa in t ings to f i l l your per iphera l v i s ion - fee l
the phys ica l i ty o f the exper ience. The i r image sense i s potent . ”
Lynne Green
Wri ter, Pub l i sher and former Director o f Southampton Ar t Ga l lery
Trevor Be l l : Both Ends o f The Stream, 2009
Art does not make soc ia l s ta tements , but contr ibutes to soc ie ty
on a deeper, less tang ib le leve l . I fee l tha t what we shou ld get
f rom ar t i s a sense o f wonder, o f someth ing beyond ourse lves ,
tha t ce lebra tes our ‘be ing ’ here.
Trevor Be l l
Modern Pa in ters
2002
Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘ Trevor Bell at Eighty - Earth Air Fire Water Aether’
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers
Photography by Steve Tanner
Printed by St Austell Printing Company (www.sapc.co.uk)
ISBN 978-1-905772-37-7
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