With this new body of work, artist John Bell is expanding on the three noted forms or phases of cubism: English art historian Douglas Cooper describes three phases of Cubism in his seminal book, The Cubist Epoch. According to Cooper there was "Early Cubism", (from 1906 to 1908) when the movement was initially developed in the studios of Picasso and Braque; the second phase being called "High Cubism", (from 1909 to 1914) during which time Juan Gris emerged as an important exponent; and finally Cooper referred to "Late Cubism" (from 1914 to 1921) as the last phase of Cubism as a radical avant-garde movement. In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context. Often the surfaces intersect at seemingly random angles, removing a coherent sense of depth. The background and object planes interpenetrate one another to create the shallow ambiguous space, one of cubism's distinct characteristics. With the use of photography & individual plastic cubes, Bell brings cubism into the new millennium making it not only three dimensional, but also playing within the time continuum, giving us 360 degree views of a subject at various times & places in their lives. "You get to see the subject aging & see different sides to their personalities" says Bell. "The photos in the first piece (self portrait, 2010) were taken months apart & at different locations. As time allows, I plan to photograph people over the course of months & years to ad greater depth to the work. It's very interesting to me to see the subtle changes in someone over time & how different we appear in the multiple rolls we play in our daily lives. At work, at home, at play, indoors & out, each situation effects use in many ways. Mood, what we wear, if we cut our hair, shaved, lost or gained weight, what has changed: divorce, jobs, children, etc... The boxes themselves are a metaphor for the compartmentalization of self, how we see ourselves & how society perceives us". The works also appear as kinetic light sculptures. The boxes themselves play with & refract the changing light due to the nature of the surfaces injection molded manufacturing process. Bell also layers each level with sheets of colored Plexiglas which gives the work different moods depending on the changing light. “They’re fairly moody works” says Bell, “a lot like us”. Featured piece: Literal Cubism - Self Portrait* photos in acrylic cubes (4" x 4" x 2" each) 18wx36hx14d *This piece was created for our most recent show "Modern Values", featuring works by John Bell and Carlisle and is currently on display (until May 22nd) at Light Spot, located on 2927 South Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, UT. For more information on John Bell and to see all available works, click HERE