TAXI Art Book Educational Supplement: Deborah Bell

Description

This educational supplement is published together with a TAXI Art Book on Deborah Bell who is a leading Johannesburg painter and sculptor and 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. Bell’s drawings, etchings and monumental clay sculptures 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. This connection to ancient sources and memories is linked to her spiritual beliefs and how she defines herself as an artist in Africa, working with materials such as clay and bronze.