John Bell
John Bell's multi-disciplinary practice explores the intersections of social media, digital imagery, performance & natural processes, examining social, political and cultural perceptions. It involves the appropriation and deconstruction of images and information popular culture produces, re-arranging it in various mediums to create opportunities for new meaning and critical examination of cultural values. Highlighting the ironies of a shrinking public domain in a culture where nearly every moment is openly and publicly shared… from the relevant to the inane. His work is an attempt to locate the authentic by simultaneously celebrating and critiquing a culture obsessed with status, self styled celebrity and consumerism.
Bell has exhibited in over 60 group and solo exhibitions in the past 12 years, including the Aqua Art Miami & Art Context Miami fairs at Art Basel Miami the past 9 years, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, the Torrance Art Museum in LA, New York’s Time Warner Center, the Kimball Art Center, BYU Museum of Art, Southern Nevada Museum of Art as well as gallery shows in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. His work has been placed in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.
In December of 2016 Bell was honored with the Visionary Award from the Central Utah Art Center (CUAC) for his contributions as an artist and to the growth and fostering of the contemporary art scene in Salt Lake City both locally and abroad. Press accolades include a profile in the national art magazine Blue Canvas (Los Angeles), a cover editorial in Seven Magazine, (Las Vegas) “Beyond Pop, The man and message behind the paint”. His work and mid-century modern home has been highlighted in the Los Angeles-based lifestyle and culture-centric 944 Magazine and Utah Style & Design. Hailed as “artist on the rise” by Salt Lake Magazine, Bell has received numerous acknowledgments and reviews in NY Art World, City Weekly, Salt Lake City Weekly, Seven, and Juxtapoz magazines and a host of online publications. He is represented by Cancio Contemporary, Miami/New York & Brett Wesley Contemporary, Las Vegas.