Deborah Margaret Bell - Graham's Modern & Contemporary
Deborah Bell is one of South Africa´s most acclaimed artists, whose work is created in dialogue with multiple worlds, texts, histories and consciousnesses. She is also widely known for her collaborative projects with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins.
Her works possess a kind of ‘mystical godliness’ which comes from deep within her. Her art making is a spiritual practice in which the role of the artist is to ‘co-create the world, to materialise what exists and has existed for all time’. Inspired by museum objects from ancient civilisations, including African, Babylonian and Egyptian, her work incorporates multi-layered references to past and present worlds. Deborah Bell’s work is a highly spiritual and personal experience of mark making. Memory and the role it plays personally, and in society, thematically prevails throughout her body of work from the 1980s to present.
University of the Witwatersrand, gaining a BA (FA)
University of the Witwatersrand, gaining a BA (Hons)
University of the Witwatersrand, under Robert Hodgins, Giuseppe Cattaneo, PaulStopforth, Professor Alan Crump and Terry King, being awarded an MA (FA)
Dreams of Immortality, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK
Opening Group Exhibition, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK
Winter Collection, Group Show, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Dreams of Immortality, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town & Johannesburg, South Africa
Renunciation, David Krut, Johannesburg, South Africa
1:54Contemporary African Art Fair, CIRCA Gallery Booth, London, UK
What would wisdom say to you dark heart?, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Centenary Exhibition, CIRCA & Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
A far country, John Martin Gallery, London & Glydebourne Opera Festival, London, UK
Rainbow Nation, Group exhibition of South African Sculptors Museum Beelden Aan Zee, Den Haag, Netherlands
Presence, CIRCA & Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
HORSE, 60 South African artists curated by Ricky Burnett, CIRCA & Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
Solo Exhibition, Alchemy, David Krut, Johannesburg
TWENTY, 20 Years of SA Sculpture, Nirox Foundation, South Africa
Solo Exhibition,Flux, Goodman Gallery, Cape
Joint Exhibition,Collaborations, David Krut, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Contemporary Sculpture in the Landscape, Nirox Foundation
Solo Exhibition,Objects of Power: memory of metal, memory of wood, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Lift Off II, Goodman Gallery Cape, Cape Town
Group Exhibition, David Krut Print Workshop, UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria
Solo Exhibition,Crossings and Monuments, Oliewenhuis Museum, Bloemfontein
Solo Exhibition,Crossings and Monuments, Aardklop Festival Potchefstroom University Library Gallery
Group Exhibition, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, USA, with Goodman Gallery
Group Exhibition, Works on Paper, Collaborative prints from David Krut Print Workshop, Franchise Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, David Krut Collaborations: 25 Years of Prints and Multiples, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
Solo Exhibition,Sentinels, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Earthworks/Claybodies, Sasol Museum Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch
Group Exhibition, Earthworks/Claybodies, Pretoria Art Museum
Group Exhibition, Earthworks/Claybodies, Standard Bank Centre Gallery, Johannesburg
Solo Exhibition,Unearthed, Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
Solo Exhibition,Unearthed, The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Solo Exhibition,The Journey Home, Art First, London
Group Exhibition, Icons for the Millennium, Atlanta, USA
Group Exhibition, The Paper Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Emergence, Group Show, National Arts festival, Grahamstown
Artery, A.V.A Gallery, Cape Town – in conjunction with the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Artists in residence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival, 25th Anniversary, Grahamstown
Solo Exhibition,Displacements, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Earth Hues – Contemporary African Art, Group Show, World Space, Washington DC, USA
Joint Exhibition,Collaborations 1986-1997 (11 years of collaborative projects between artists Kentridge, Hodgins and Bell), Johannesburg Art Gallery, in association with the FNB Vita Awards
Joint Exhibition,UB101: A portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Kentridge and Hodgins.Exhibited at the Grahamstown Festival and at the Gertrude Posel Gallery (Curated by Fiona Rankin-Smith)
Group Exhibition, Images and Form: Prints, drawings and sculpture from Southern Africa and Nigeria, Brunei Gallery, University of London and Edinburgh College of Art, U.K
The Gencor Collection, Sandton Art Gallery, and The Grahamstown Festival
Group Exhibition, Kempton Park Metropolitan Substructure Fine Arts Award Show, Kempton Park
Group Exhibition, New Art from South Africa, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, U.K
Group Exhibition, Les Arts de la Resistance, (Fin de Siecle a Johannesburg), Galerie Convergence, Galerie Jean-Christian Fradin; Galerie Michel Luneau and Galerie les Petit Murs, Nantes, France
Group Exhibition, Not Quite a Christmas Exhibition, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, CRAM, A.V.A Gallery, Cape Town (in conjunction with The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg)
Group Exhibition, Gay Rights: Rites, Re-writes, Travelling Exhibition, South Africa
Group Salon, Rose Korber representing artists at the Bay Hotel, Cape Town
Group Exhibition, Common and Uncommon Ground: South African Art to Atlanta, City Gallery East, Atlanta, USA
Group Exhibition, Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Group Exhibition, Tomorrow is Now, First Canadian Place and Knights Galleries International, Toronto, Canada
Group Exhibition, Barber Signs, The Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Recent Drawings, Gallery on Tyrone, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Ceramics Biennal, Sandton Art Gallery
Solo Exhibition,Muses and Lamentations, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, The Bag Factory: The First Five Years, the Civic Theatre Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, The Art of Tea, Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Memo, installation with video at the Grahamstown festival in collaboration with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins
Joint Exhibition,Lamentations, Art First, Cork Street, London
Group Show, Newtown, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Anything Boxed, Group Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, South African works on Paper, North Western University of Illinois, Chicago, United States
Joint Exhibition,Easing the Passing (of the hours),Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Portraits in the round, ceramic exhibition in collaboration with William Kentridge and Retief van Wyk, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Gallery on Tyrone, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Momentum Life Exhibition, Pretoria
Group Exhibition, Internations of Millenium, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Easing the Passing (of the hours),Waterfront, Cape Town (Computer Animation, laser prints and drawings) in collaboration with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins
Group Exhibition, ICA, 50 Johannesburg Artists, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Paris: The Catalyst, Alliance Francaise, Durban
Group Exhibition, Looking at Art: Looking at Watercolours, Goodman Gallery,Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Works made in August, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Little Morals, a portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Hodginsand Kentridge, Cassierer Gallery, Johannesburg; Gallery International, Cape Town and Taking Liberties, Durban
Group Exhibition, Cape Town Triennal
Group Exhibition, Painted People: Painted Spaces, Newtown Galleries, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Hand Coloured Graphics, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Tiny Tapestry Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Women choose Women, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Art from South Africa, MOMA, Oxford, UK
Group Exhibition, Standard Bank Drawing Competition, Johannesburg
Solo Exhibition,Deborah Bell,Potchefstroom Museum
Volkskas Atelier Award Exhibition, South African Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Group Exhibition, African Encounters, Dome Gallery, New York and Washington, USA
Group Exhibition, The Little Big Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition, with Jenny Stadler and Nagel, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, CASA (Culture for Another South Africa), conference in Amsterdam, Holland
Volkskas Atelier Award exhibition, South African Association of the Arts, Pretoria
Group Exhibition, 100 Artists Protest detention without trial, in aid of DPSC, Market Theatre, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Artists for Human Rights Exhibition, Durban Exhibition Centre
Joint Exhibition, Hogarth in Johannesburg, a portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Hodgins and Kentridge (this exhibition travelled to all the major centres in South Africa)
Volkskas Atelier Award Exhibition, South African Association of Arts, Pretoria
Joint Exhibition, MAFA exhibition, Rembrandt Gallery, Milner Park, Johannesburg
Cape Town Triennal New Visions, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, 11 Figurative Artists, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, UNISA Lecturers, Bloemfontein
Joint Exhibition, with Hodgins and Sassoon, Carriage House Gallery
Solo Exhibition,Deborah Bell, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
Public Collections– International:
Bristol Myers Squibb Corp., USA
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, USA
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C, USA
Friends of the National Gallery, Cape Town
Museums & Galleries- South Africa:
Oliewenhuis Museum, Bloemfontein
Corporate Collections- South Africa:
BCE, Johannesburg
Bell, Dewar and Hall, Johannesburg
Legal Resources Centre, Johannesburg
MTN Art Institute, Johannesburg
BHP Billiton South Africa Ltd.
Sanlam Collection
Standard Bank Investment Corporation, Johannesburg
University of Pietermaritzburg Collection
University of the Orange Free State Collection, Bloemfontein
University of the Witwatersrand Collection, Johannesburg
Sculpture for Standard Bank
Graphics for Weekly Mail Film Festival Poster
Involvement in movie animation for Arts Alive
Title sequence for Grass Roots, NNTV
Large sculpture for Wits Business School
Artist-in-Residence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival – 25th Anniversary, Grahamstown
1 Set of 6 Graphics for First National Bank
APSA Award for the best New Signature, Ceramics Biennal
Vita Quarterly Award, runner up for Main Award
Mamba Award for the Most Sustained Artist
Merit Prize Winner, Volkskas Atelier
Contemporary, Deborah Margaret Bell, Mixed Media on Paper
Memo – Omen
Contemporary, Deborah Margaret Bell, Oil on Canvas
Deborah Margaret Bell - Graham's Modern & Contemporary
Deborah Bell is one of South Africa´s most acclaimed artists, whose work is created in dialogue with multiple worlds, texts, histories and consciousnesses. She is also widely known for her collaborative projects with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins.
Her works possess a kind of ‘mystical godliness’ which comes from deep within her. Her art making is a spiritual practice in which the role of the artist is to ‘co-create the world, to materialise what exists and has existed for all time’. Inspired by museum objects from ancient civilisations, including African, Babylonian and Egyptian, her work incorporates multi-layered references to past and present worlds. Deborah Bell’s work is a highly spiritual and personal experience of mark making. Memory and the role it plays personally, and in society, thematically prevails throughout her body of work from the 1980s to present.
University of the Witwatersrand, gaining a BA (FA)
University of the Witwatersrand, gaining a BA (Hons)
University of the Witwatersrand, under Robert Hodgins, Giuseppe Cattaneo, PaulStopforth, Professor Alan Crump and Terry King, being awarded an MA (FA)
Dreams of Immortality, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK
Opening Group Exhibition, CIRCA Gallery, London, UK
Winter Collection, Group Show, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Dreams of Immortality, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town & Johannesburg, South Africa
Renunciation, David Krut, Johannesburg, South Africa
1:54Contemporary African Art Fair, CIRCA Gallery Booth, London, UK
What would wisdom say to you dark heart?, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Centenary Exhibition, CIRCA & Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
A far country, John Martin Gallery, London & Glydebourne Opera Festival, London, UK
Rainbow Nation, Group exhibition of South African Sculptors Museum Beelden Aan Zee, Den Haag, Netherlands
Presence, CIRCA & Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
HORSE, 60 South African artists curated by Ricky Burnett, CIRCA & Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
Solo Exhibition, Alchemy, David Krut, Johannesburg
TWENTY, 20 Years of SA Sculpture, Nirox Foundation, South Africa
Solo Exhibition,Flux, Goodman Gallery, Cape
Joint Exhibition,Collaborations, David Krut, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Contemporary Sculpture in the Landscape, Nirox Foundation
Solo Exhibition,Objects of Power: memory of metal, memory of wood, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Lift Off II, Goodman Gallery Cape, Cape Town
Group Exhibition, David Krut Print Workshop, UNISA Art Gallery, Pretoria
Solo Exhibition,Crossings and Monuments, Oliewenhuis Museum, Bloemfontein
Solo Exhibition,Crossings and Monuments, Aardklop Festival Potchefstroom University Library Gallery
Group Exhibition, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, USA, with Goodman Gallery
Group Exhibition, Works on Paper, Collaborative prints from David Krut Print Workshop, Franchise Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, David Krut Collaborations: 25 Years of Prints and Multiples, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
Solo Exhibition,Sentinels, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Earthworks/Claybodies, Sasol Museum Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch
Group Exhibition, Earthworks/Claybodies, Pretoria Art Museum
Group Exhibition, Earthworks/Claybodies, Standard Bank Centre Gallery, Johannesburg
Solo Exhibition,Unearthed, Joao Ferreira Gallery, Cape Town
Solo Exhibition,Unearthed, The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Solo Exhibition,The Journey Home, Art First, London
Group Exhibition, Icons for the Millennium, Atlanta, USA
Group Exhibition, The Paper Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Emergence, Group Show, National Arts festival, Grahamstown
Artery, A.V.A Gallery, Cape Town – in conjunction with the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Artists in residence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival, 25th Anniversary, Grahamstown
Solo Exhibition,Displacements, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Earth Hues – Contemporary African Art, Group Show, World Space, Washington DC, USA
Joint Exhibition,Collaborations 1986-1997 (11 years of collaborative projects between artists Kentridge, Hodgins and Bell), Johannesburg Art Gallery, in association with the FNB Vita Awards
Joint Exhibition,UB101: A portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Kentridge and Hodgins.Exhibited at the Grahamstown Festival and at the Gertrude Posel Gallery (Curated by Fiona Rankin-Smith)
Group Exhibition, Images and Form: Prints, drawings and sculpture from Southern Africa and Nigeria, Brunei Gallery, University of London and Edinburgh College of Art, U.K
The Gencor Collection, Sandton Art Gallery, and The Grahamstown Festival
Group Exhibition, Kempton Park Metropolitan Substructure Fine Arts Award Show, Kempton Park
Group Exhibition, New Art from South Africa, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, U.K
Group Exhibition, Les Arts de la Resistance, (Fin de Siecle a Johannesburg), Galerie Convergence, Galerie Jean-Christian Fradin; Galerie Michel Luneau and Galerie les Petit Murs, Nantes, France
Group Exhibition, Not Quite a Christmas Exhibition, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, CRAM, A.V.A Gallery, Cape Town (in conjunction with The Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg)
Group Exhibition, Gay Rights: Rites, Re-writes, Travelling Exhibition, South Africa
Group S
alon, Rose Korber representing artists at the Bay Hotel, Cape Town
Group Exhibition, Common and Uncommon Ground: South African Art to Atlanta, City Gallery East, Atlanta, USA
Group Exhibition, Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Group Exhibition, Tomorrow is Now, First Canadian Place and Knights Galleries International, Toronto, Canada
Group Exhibition, Barber Signs, The Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Recent Drawings, Gallery on Tyrone, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Ceramics Biennal, Sandton Art Gallery
Solo Exhibition,Muses and Lamentations, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, The Bag Factory: The First Five Years, the Civic Theatre Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, The Art of Tea, Kim Sacks Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Memo, installation with video at the Grahamstown festival in collaboration with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins
Joint Exhibition,Lamentations, Art First, Cork Street, London
Group Show, Newtown, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Anything Boxed, Group Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, South African works on Paper, North Western University of Illinois, Chicago, United States
Joint Exhibition,Easing the Passing (of the hours),Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Portraits in the round, ceramic exhibition in collaboration with William Kentridge and Retief van Wyk, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Gallery on Tyrone, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Momentum Life Exhibition, Pretoria
Group Exhibition, Internations of Millenium, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Easing the Passing (of the hours),Waterfront, Cape Town (Computer Animation, laser prints and drawings) in collaboration with William Kentridge and Robert Hodgins
Group Exhibition, ICA, 50 Johannesburg Artists, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Paris: The Catalyst, Alliance Francaise, Durban
Group Exhibition, Looking at Art: Looking at Watercolours, Goodman Gallery,Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Works made in August, Newtown Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition,Little Morals, a portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Hodginsand Kentridge, Cassierer Gallery, Johannesburg; Gallery International, Cape Town and Taking Liberties, Durban
Group Exhibition, Cape Town Triennal
Group Exhibition, Painted People: Painted Spaces, Newtown Galleries, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Hand Coloured Graphics, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Tiny Tapestry Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Women choose Women, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Art from South Africa, MOMA, Oxford, UK
Group Exhibition, Standard Bank Drawing Competition, Johannesburg
Solo Exhibition,Deborah Bell,Potchefstroom Museum
Volkskas Atelier Award Exhibition, South African Vita Awards, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Group Exhibition, African Encounters, Dome Gallery, New York and Washington, USA
Group Exhibition, The Little Big Show, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Joint Exhibition, with Jenny Stadler and Nagel, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, CASA (Culture for Another South Africa), conference in Amsterdam, Holland
Volkskas Atelier Award exhibition, South African Association of the Arts, Pretoria
Group Exhibition, 100 Artists Protest detention without trial, in aid of DPSC, Market Theatre, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, Artists for Human Rights Exhibition, Durban Exhibition Centre
Joint Exhibition, Hogarth in Johannesburg, a portfolio of etchings done in conjunction with Hodgins and Kentridge (this exhibition travelled to all the major centres in South Africa)
Volkskas Atelier Award Exhibition, South African Association of Arts, Pretoria
Joint Exhibition, MAFA exhibition, Rembrandt Gallery, Milner Park, Johannesburg
Cape Town Triennal New Visions, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, 11 Figurative Artists, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
Group Exhibition, UNISA Lecturers, Bloemfontein
Joint Exhibition, with Hodgins and Sassoon, Carriage House Gallery
Solo Exhibition,Deborah Bell, Market Gallery, Johannesburg
Public Collections– International:
Bristol Myers Squibb Corp., USA
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, USA
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C, USA
Friends of the National Gallery, Cape Town
Museums & Galleries- South Africa:
Oliewenhuis Museum, Bloemfontein
Corporate Collections- South Africa:
BCE, Johannesburg
Bell, Dewar and Hall, Johannesburg
Legal Resources Centre, Johannesburg
MTN Art Institute, Johannesburg
BHP Billiton South Africa Ltd.
Sanlam Collection
Standard Bank Investment Corporation, Johannesburg
University of Pietermaritzburg Collection
University of the Orange Free State Collection, Bloemfontein
University of the Witwatersrand Collection, Johannesburg
Sculpture for Standard Bank
Graphics for Weekly Mail Film Festival Poster
Involvement in movie animation for Arts Alive
Title sequence for Grass Roots, NNTV
Large sculpture for Wits Business School
Artist-in-Residence, Standard Bank National Arts Festival – 25th Anniversary, Grahamstown
1 Set of 6 Graphics for First National Bank
APSA Award for the best New Signature, Ceramics Biennal
Vita Quarterly Award, runner up for Main Award
Mamba Award for the Most Sustained Artist
Merit Prize Winner, Volkskas Atelier
Contemporary, Deborah Margaret Bell, Mixed Media on Paper
Memo – Omen
Contemporary, Deborah Margaret Bell, Oil on Canvas