Martin Bell

Martin Bell works across various mediums including collage, photography and sculpture. His work has been exhibited at Hell Gallery, Melbourne, the Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales and in association with the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Like a Piranesi prison, there is no escaping from Bell’s drawings. There is nowhere to rest the eye, with chaos filling every space. Homes appear as castles in a feudal society. Woven within that society are Bell’s characters, trapped within the drawing’s sprawling architecture. Rarely are Bell’s characters at rest, but even when they appear motionless, there persists a futile struggle for space and harmony.

Peter Drew, Catalogue essay, 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Dark Heart

Read Martin Bell, Batavia, an Allegory of Good and Bad Government, After Lorenzetti’ 2024 exhibition essay.

                                                                            

Skull Gully II 2013
Installation view
Skull Gully II 2013
Installation view
Skull Gully II 2013
Installation view
Skull Gully II 2013
Installation view
Skull Gully II 2013
Installation view
Untitled from the series Skull Gully II 2012 - 2013
Ink on BFK Rives paper
56 x 76 cm
Untitled from the series Skull Gully II 2012 - 2013
Ink on BFK Rives paper
56 x 76 cm
Untitled from the series Skull Gully II 2012 - 2013
Ink on BFK Rives paper
56 x 76 cm
Untitled from the series Skull Gully II 2012 - 2013
Ink on BFK Rives paper
56 x 76 cm
Untitled from the series Skull Gully II 2012 - 2013
Ink on BFK Rives paper
56 x 76 cm