Sharon Bell
"Sharon Bell has been making serious delicate collages of spellbinding composition forever,” noted Mat Gleason, who included her in his 2011 “Tel-Art-Phone” show. Writing in Visions Art Quarterly, Brian Butler observed, “The power of the small, of the intimate, contrasts yet is infused with the heroic scale of Abstract Expressionism. In looking at Bell’s work we contemplate the strange idea that it can now be heroic to do small work.”
An L.A. native, she holds a BA in Painting/Sculpture/Graphic Arts from UCLA and an MFA in Painting from Claremont Graduate University, and also studied at Art Center College of Design. The Nevada Museum of Art hosted a solo exhibit of her gouache paintings in 2010. Her work in various media has been seen in group shows at Groundspace Project, PØST, Louis Stern, Couturier, Kohn/Turner, Turner/Krull, Jan Baum, Zero One and Ruth Bachofner galleries, as well as the Palm Springs Art Museum and Long Beach and Los Angeles city colleges.
Exhibitions
2018 “CoutureMash,” curated by Lisa Derrick, Mash Gallery, Los Angeles
2018 “CoutureMash,” curated by Lisa Derrick, Mash Gallery, Los Angeles
“That Layered Look,” curated by Peter Frank, Tufenkian Gallery, Glendale
2017 PØST Art Auction, PØST, Los Angeles [also 2016]
2016 “Suites [(sweets)],” group exhibition of small works, Groundspace Project, Los Angeles
2015 “Holiday Art Show,” Groundspace Project
2014 “Paper Trails: New Collage,” curated by Peter Frank, The Loft at Liz’s, Los Angeles
“Three Painters: Sharon Bell, Kerry Kugelman, Michael Maas,” Groundspace Project
2013 “13-4-13” and “Salon Style Saturday,” Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles
2012 “Holiday Art Show,” Groundspace Project
“True Blue,” Sangria Fine Arts, Lake Balboa, CA
“Four Seasons of Flora and Spice,” The Loft at Liz’s
“Edge,” Los Angeles City College, Da Vinci Art Gallery
2011 “Tel-Art-Phone,” curated by Mat Gleason, Beacon Arts Building, Inglewood
2010 “Rearranging: Works by Sharon Bell,” Nevada Museum of Art, Reno*
2000 “Best of the West Show,” Zero One Gallery, Los Angeles
“Works on Paper,” PØST
1998 “Tales of Los Angeles,” Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles
“Best of the West Show,” Zero One Gallery, Los Angeles
“100 Dollar Show & Up,” PØST [also 1997 and 1996]
1997 “Fair Art ‘97,” Spanish Kitchen Gallery, Los Angeles
“Coagula’s Second Annual National Los Angeles Juried Exhibition,” Spanish Kitchen Gallery
1996 “Present Art IV,” Couturier Gallery [also III, II, and I, 1995, 1994, 1993]
1995 “Pasted Papers: Collage and the 20th Century,” Louis Stern Fine Art, West Hollywood
1994 “Get Back,” Claremont Graduate School Alumni Exhibition, Claremont Graduate School
and Kohn Turner Galleries, Claremont and West Hollywood
“California Open,” Long Beach (CA) Arts Gallery
“Second International,” Gallery 57, Fullerton, CA
“25th Annual National Juried Exhibition,” Palm Springs (CA) Desert Museum
1993 “Ten,” Eye Grind Gallery, Los Olivos, CA
“Intimate Spaces V,” Gallery 57
“Intimate Images II,” LACA Gallery, Los Angeles
“Precious Space,” De la Guerra Gallery, Santa Barbara
1992 “The Sticking Place: Space & Image in Contemporary Collage,” Long Beach (CA) City College
“National ‘92 Small Works Exhibition,” Schoharie County Arts Council, New York
“Kaleidoscope ‘92,” Glendale (CA) Regional Arts Council
1991 “Photo Salon: A Selection of Over 60 New Photographic Talents in Los Angeles,” Turner/Krull Gallery, Los Angeles
“Sharon Bell: Constructivist Collage Works,” Walker and Walker Gallery, Santa Monica*
1990 “Mix,” Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles
“Wallworks,” L.A. Artcore’s Seventh Juried Competition (Third prize)
1989 “Variations Los Angeles: The Form,” Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Santa Monica
*solo exhibitions
Press
“Long Beach Open” reviewed by Peter Frank, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Aug. 7, 1994.
“Ten” reviewed by Dena Hawes, Santa Barbara Independent, Aug. 26, 1993.
“Ten” reviewed by Joan Crowder, Santa Barbara News-Press, Aug. 19, 1993.
“The Sticking Place” reviewed by Judith Hoffberg, Visions, Summer 1993.
“Precious Space” reviewed by Joan Crowder, Santa Barbara News-Press, Jan.
15, 1993 (reproduction).
15, 1993 (reproduction).
“Precious Space” reviewed by Michael W. Darling, Santa Barbara Independent, Jan. 21, 1993.
“Changing of the Guard: ‘Collage’ at Tobey C. Moss; ‘The Sticking Place’ at Long Beach City
College,” by Alicia Vaughn, Artweek, Dec. 17, 1992.
“Precious Space: Vastness Measured In Inches,” by Brian Butler, Visions, Fall 1991 (reproduction).
“Reconstructivist Painting: Neo-Modern Abstraction in the United States,” by Peter Frank, Artspace,
March/April 1990 (reproduction).
“To Be Young, Gifted and Los Angeleno,” by Peter Frank, Visions, summer 1989 (reproduction).
