Barcelona #5, 1988

Larry Bell is a contemporary American artist and sculptor with a successful career that spans over 40 years. As a student at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, he studied under Robert Chuey, Robert Irwin, and Emerson Woelffer. Larry Bell's art demonstrates the intriguing correlation between the object of art and its environment by focusing on the sculptural and reflective properties of his work. His earliest paintings are categorized as works in the Abstract Expressionist tradition. During this time, he began incorporating fragments and shards of clear and mirrored glass into his pieces. Bell also began to produce angular geometric compositions that alluded to or represented three-dimensional forms in his paintings. Afterward, he began to paint a series of shadow boxes, which were three-dimensional cases that gave the illusion of actual volume using a variety of materials including formica, wood, and brass. Larry Bell’s art is identified with the minimal art and geometric abstraction movement. In the early 1960’s Bell began to create cube sculptures that rest on transparent pedestals. These cubes have possibly become his most familiar body of work. In 1990 Larry Bell was the recipient of the New Mexico Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. Currently, Bell continues his work with the cube. His modern cubes are made only of glass and have beveled edges instead of being plates that sit within a metal frame. In 2004, one of Larry Bell’s bronze sculptures entitled “Happy Man” was featured at the front entrance of Langham Place in Hong Kong. (Artist website)