DEBORAH BELL
(b. 1957, Johannesburg, South Africa)

Deborah Bell is one of SA’s most celebrated contemporary artists. She works in a range of media on canvas and paper, produces dry point etchings and large-scale bronzes. Her earlier more political work has given way to a broader, deeper investigation into the border between mortality and immortality, matter and spirit, presence and absence, the quotidian and the mythic, the grounded and transcendent. In recent years she has developed an immediately recognisable visual language, her images simple, stark, symbolic – grounded, silent, still, poised. As Ricky Burnett has stated: at the very edge of time.

In her iconography she draws from a range of cultures (including African, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, early Christian and European) and a range of philosophies (especially the Buddhist preoccupation with stillness and the shedding of attachment and the ego) and psychologies (more Jung than Freud) – but her work digs deeper, arriving finally out of an internal and personal place that Bell occupies in the world as an artist, a woman and an explorer. A central task is to make the unknown present – apprehended in a series of powerful images that are both of her and beyond her. Bell’s earlier figures, characterised by entrapment (in the country, in the body), gave away to figures embodying the seeker – often accompanied by boats, horses, chariots. Images of lions, dogs, horses and angels recur. These are often intermediary figures between the physical world and a higher more spiritual realm. They are also aspects of herself – the powerful daemons that reside in all of us, which are often accompanied by solitary female figures, some full of assertive confidence, others more vulnerable and less sure of their agency.

Bell is interested in the half-formed image – the unwritten, as yet unformed spaces we move towards in our quest for self-knowledge. More recent work has also become more concerned with surrender – to the higher self, the mystery of the universe, the simplicity of the present. All her art, she has stated, works towards the Zen mark: the single gesture of absolute presence. Her quest is ongoing – and has left in its wake a series of hugely powerful, totemic images from what Yeats called Spiritus Mundi.

Deborah Bell has worked with a great variety of media during her career and has collaborated on various historically important projects with contemporaries such as William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins. Bell received her BAFA (Hons) and MFA degrees at the University of Witwatersrand, and has been an artist working abroad and a lecturer at various SAn tertiary institutions, including the University of the Witwatersrand. Bell lives and works from her studio in Magaliesburg, as well as being a collaborator at the David Krut studios on several projects.

Bell’s work is represented in public and private collections around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Smithsonian Institute and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, the Hara Museum, Tokyo and the IZIKO SAn National Gallery, Cape Town.

Deborah Bell has worked with a great variety of media during her career and has collaborated on various historically important projects with contemporaries such as William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins. Bell received her BAFA (Hons) and MFA degrees at the University of Witwatersrand, and has been an artist working abroad and a lecturer at various SAn tertiary institutions, including the University of the Witwatersrand. Bell lives and works from her studio in Magaliesburg, as well as being a collaborator at the David Krut studios on several projects.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBTIONS

2024

Mother Land, Everard Read, Johannesburg, SA

Sculpture & Painting - 2000-2023, Everard Read & John Martin in partnership, Spirit Studios, UK

2023

Sentinels (2003), Chelsea Physic Garden, London, UK

2020

Sentinels, Everard Read, London, UK

2020   

Sentinels, Everard Read London, UK

2019   

Enthroned, Everard Read Cape Town, South Africa

2018

Invocations to the Plate, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa

2017   

Recent Paintings and Sculptures, Everard Read Franschhoek, South Africa.

Uncovering Ancient Memory – 15 Years of Etchings, David Krut Projects, Cape Town

2016     

Dreams of Immortality, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK

2015     

Dreams of Immortality, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town & Johannesburg, South Africa

Renunciation, David Krut, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013     

What would wisdom say to you dark heart?, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2012     

A far country, John Martin Gallery, London & Glydebourne Opera Festival, London, UK

2011     

Presence, CIRCA & Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010     

Alchemy, David Krut, Johannesburg, South Africa

2009     

Flux, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Flux, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Collaborations, David Krut, Johannesburg, South Africa

2007     

Objects of Power: memory of metal, memory of wood, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2005-6 

Crossings and Monuments, Oliewenhuis Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa

2005     

Crossings and Monuments, Aardklop Festival Potchefstroom University Library Gallery, South Africa

2004     

Sentinels, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2002     

Unearthed, Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2001     

Unearthed, The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2000     

The Journey Home, Art First, London, UK

1998     

Displacements, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1995     

Muses and Lamentations, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1989     

Deborah Bell, Potchesfstroom Museum, South Africa

1982     

Deborah Bell, Market Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020      

Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

The Portrait Show, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2019      

Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, Cape Town, SA

Correspondences, with Ricky Burnett, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2018      

Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Everard Read, South Africa

2016-7

TACIT, a group exhibition acknowledging 20 years of conjunction and reciprocity at Dionysus Sculpture Works studio and foundry , NWU Gallery, Potchefstroom and William Humphreys, Kimberley, and Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa

2016     

Opening Group Exhibition, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK

Winter Collection, Group Show,  Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2015     

Bronze, Steel &  Stone, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, CIRCA Gallery Booth, London, UK

FNB Jo-burg Art Fair, Everard Read Gallery Booth, Johannesburg, South Africa

2013     

Centenary Exhibition, CIRCA & Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2012     

Rainbow Nation: Group exhibition of South African Sculptors Museum Beelden Aan Zee, Den Haag, Netherlands

2011     

HORSE: 60 South African artists curated by Ricky Burnett, CIRCA & Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2010     

TWENTY, 20 Years Of SA Sculpture, Nirox Foundation, South Africa

2009     

Contemporary Sculpture in the Landscape, Nirox Foundation, South Africa

2007     

Lift Off II, Goodman Gallery Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

David Krut print workshop, UNISA Art Gallery. Pretoria, South Africa

2005     

ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH, Miami Beach, USA, in collaboration with Goodman Gallery, South Africa

Works on Paper, Collaborative prints from David Krut Print Workshop, Franchise Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

David Krut Collaborations: 25 Years of Prints and Multiples, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa

2004     

Earthworks/Claybodies, Sasol Museum Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

2003     

Earthworks/Claybodies, Pretoria Art Museum, South Africa

Earthworks/Claybodies, Standard Bank Centre Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

2000     

Icons for the Millenium, Atlanta, USA

1999     

The Paper Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Emergence, Group Show, National Arts festival, Grahamstown, South Africa

Artery, A.V.A Gallery, Cape Town – in conjunction with the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Artists in residence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival, 25th Anniversary, Grahamstown, South Africa

1998     

Earth Hues – Contemporary African Art, Group Show, World Space, Washington DC, USA

1997     

Images and Form: Prints, drawings and sculpture from Southern Africa and Nigeria, Brunei Gallery, University of London and Edinburgh College of Art, UK

The Gencor Collection, Sandton Art Gallery, and The Grahamstown Festival, South Africa

Kempton Park Metropolitan Substructure Fine Arts Award Show, Kempton Park, South Africa

New Art from South Africa, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

Les Arts de la Resistance, (Fin de Siecle a Johannesburg), Galerie Convergence, Galerie Jean-Christian Fradin, Galerie Michel Luneau, Galerie les Petit Murs, Nantes, France

Not Quite a Christmas Exhibition, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

CRAM, A.V.A Gallery, Cape Town – in conjunction with The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

Collaborations 1986-1997 (11 years of collaborative projects between artists Kentridge, Hodgins and Bell) at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, in association with the FNB Vita Awards

UB101: A portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Kentridge and Hodgins. Exhibited at the Grahamstown Festival and at the Gertrude Posel Gallery. Exhibition curated by Fiona Rankin-Smith.

1996     

Gay Rights: Rites, Re-writes, Travelling Exhibition, South Africa

Group Salon, Rose Korber representing artists at the Bay Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa

Common and Uncommon Ground: South African Art to Atlanta, City Gallery East, Atlanta, USA

Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

Tomorrow is Now, First Canadian Place and Knights Galleries International, Toronto, Canada

Barber Signs, The Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Recent Drawings, Gallery on Tyrone, Johannesburg, South Africa

Ceramics Biennal, Sandton Art Gallery, South Africa

1995     

The Bag Factory: The First Five Years, the Civic Theatre Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

The Art of Tea, Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Group Salon, Rose Korber representing artists at the Bay Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa

1994     

Group Show, Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa

Anything Boxed, Group Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

South African works on Paper, North Western University of Illinois, Chicago, USA

Memo, installation with video at the Grahamstown festival in collaboration with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins

Lamentations, Art First, Cork Street. London, UK

1993     

Gallery on Tyrone, Johannesburg, South Africa

Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

Momentum Life Exhibition, Pretoria, South Africa

Internations of Millennium, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Easing the Passing (of the hours), Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Portraits in the round, ceramic exhibition in collaboration with William Kentridge and Retief van Wyk at the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1992     

ICA, 50 Johannesburg Artists, Johannesburg, South Africa

Paris: The Catalyst, Alliance Francaise, Durban, South Africa

Looking at Art: Looking at Watercolours, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

Works made in August, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Easing the Passing (of the hours), Waterfront, Cape Town. Computer Animation, laser prints and drawings in collaboration with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins

1991     

Cape Town Triennal, South Africa

Painted People: Painted Spaces, Newtown Galleries, Johannesburg, South Africa

Hand Coloured Graphics, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Tiny Tapestry Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

Little Morals, a portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Hodgins and Kentridge, exhibited at the Cassierer
Gallery, Johannesburg, Gallery International Cape Town, Taking Liberties, Durban, South Africa

1990     

Women choose Women, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Art from South Africa, MOMA, Oxford, UK

Standard Bank Drawing Competition, Johannesburg, South Africa

1989     

Volkskas Atelier Award Exhibition, South African Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa

African Encounters, Dome Gallery, New York and Washington, USA

The Little Big Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

1988     

CASA (Culture for Another South Africa), conference in Amsterdam, Holland

Volkskas Atelier Award exhibition, South African Association of the Arts, Pretoria, South Africa

100 Artists Protest detention without trial, in aid of DPSC, Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa

Artists for Human Rights Exhibition, Durban Exhibition Centre, South Africa

Exhibited with Jenny Stadler and Nagel at the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa


1986     

Volkskas Atelier Award Exhibition, South African Association of Arts, Pretoria, South Africa

4 UNISA Lecturers, Bloemfontein, South Africa

UNISA Art Lecturers, Pretoria Art Museum, South Africa

1985    

Cape Town Triennal New Visions, market Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

11 Figurative Artists, Market Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa

MAFA exhibition, Rembrandt Gallery, Milner Park, Johannesburg, South Africa

AWARDS & MERITS

2013

Medal of Honour for Visual Arts (Sculpture and Painting), Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie for Wetenskap en Kuns, SA

1997

APSA Award for the best New Signature, Ceramics Biennial, SA

1991

Vita Quarterly Award, runner-up for Main Award, SA

Mamba Award for the Most Sustained Artist

1986

Merit Prize Winner, Volkskas Atelier, SA

SELECTED PUBLIC & PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

BCE, Johannesburg, South Africa
Bell, Dewar and Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
BHP Billiton South Africa Ltd.
Bristol Myers Squibb Corp.
Hara Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa
Johannesburg City Council , South Africa
King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth , South Africa
Legal Resources Centre, Johannesburg , South Africa
MTN Art Institute, Johannesburg , South Africa
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C ,USA
Oliewenhius Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
Roodepoort Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
SA National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Sanlam Collection, South Africa
Sasol Collection, South Africa
Smithsonian Insitute, Washington, D.C, USA
Standard Bank Investment Corporation, Johannesburg, South Africa
Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Telkom UNISA Art Gallery University of Pietermaritzburg Collection, South Africa
University of the Orange Free State Collection, South Africa
University of the Witwatersrand Collection, South Africa
USA Friends of the National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

COMMISSIONS

1999     

Sculpture for Standard Bank, South Africa

1991     

Large sculpture for Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa     

Artist-in-Residence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival – 25th Anniversary, Grahamstown, South Africa

1994     

Involvement in movie animation for Arts Alive, South Africa   

Title sequence for Grass Roots, NNTV , South Africa

1993     

Graphics for Weekly Mail Film Festival Poster 1990-1 Set of 6 Graphics for First National Bank, South Africa