Trevor Bell at Eighty - Earth Air Fire Water Aether

T R E V O R B E L L AT E I G H T YE A RT H A I R F I R E WAT E R A E T H E R

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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 mixed media on board and p ly wood 117 x 100 cm

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Windance Duet mixed media on board and p ly wood 107 x 193 cm

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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

Swel l mixed media on board and p ly wood 109 x 190 cm

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Sp l i t mixed media on board and p ly wood 110 x 240 cm

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Gust mixed media on board and p ly wood 52 x 112 cm

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Voyage mixed media on board and p ly wood 116 x 285 cm

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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

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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

Heel mixed media on canvas 196 x 211 cm

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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

Sp ike mixed media on canvas 161 x 165 cm

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Breaker mixed media on canvas 161 x 165 cm

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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

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Danger mixed media on canvas 161 x 165 cm

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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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Cheer mixed media on board 59 x 59 x 10 cm

Cheeky mixed media on board 55 x 55 x 10 cm

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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


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


1993 Division of Cultural Affairs, Tallahassee, Florida

Lydon Fine Art, Chicago

Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

1992 Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota, Florida


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


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


1963 Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford



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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

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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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Trevor Bell at Eighty - Earth Air Fire Water Aether