Gala Bell
Based London
Gala Bell is a London based multidisciplinary artist. The alchemy of matter is at the epicentre of Bell’s practice. Everything stems from painting and craft, finding its way between traditional oil on canvas and new ways of working. Ignited by material experiences, art history fuses with divergent forms that combine processes such as casting in sugar, deep frying, submerging in gels or oils, combining materials and methods that explore new rituals in art making. Here, materials and actions become metonymic, swapping roles between kitchen techniques, craftsmanship and tradition. Engaging with concepts of value, taste, hierarchy and absurd labour, the space of the kitchen and the studio operate as a lab of material transformation, creating pairings that lead to new processes, meanings and possibilities.
Bell is a graduate of the Royal College of Art and City and Guilds Art School. She has been selected for exhibitions with The Design Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival, The London Design Festival with Mint Gallery, Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz in Berlin, and Galerie der HBKsaar in Saarsbrucken. Bell has had commissions by BBC One and Tate and Lyle for her sugar sculptures, with a piece acquired by the Tate and Lyle Museum archive in London. She has been included in publications with Dazed magazine and Art Reveal, with interviews by BBC One Tribe and The Royal Docks, and an interview feature on To The Studio Podcast.
Education
Royal College of Art 2016-18
City and Guilds of London Art School 2010-2013
Selected Exhibitions & Awards
Fountain of Hygiene pt II, Haw Parr Music, Business of Design Week, Hong Kong 30/11/20-05/12/20
The Exhibitionist Hotel, South Kensington, London 15/12/20-31/12/20
Fry Up, Installation for Kensington and Chelsea Art Week, KCAW, 1/12/20 - 30/01/21
Fountain of Hygiene, shortlisted for Hygiene Innovation Beyond the Sanitiser, The Design Museum, London 31/07/10-04/09/20
Wave Theatre, solo show, La Galleria, Pall Mall 01-11/07/20 2019 Winter Salon, Offshoot Artspace, Highgate, 28/11/19-08/12/19
Something Written or Recorded, A Space is A Space, 26/11/19-05/12/19
No Captcha, Thanks, Offshoot Artspace, Highgate 20-29/09/19
Press
Talk and Ten, Creative Entrepreneurs and West London’s Screen Industry, panel discussion: https://westlondonbusiness.arlo.co/w/events/1119-talk-at-ten-creative-entrepreneurs
Interview with To The Studio, podcast 2020: https://lnns.co/4-dsnH1l0If
Interview with Producers Art, PArt Talk 2020: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJwXMK8oMh9/
Article in FAD Arts and Culture Magazine, Fry Up, https://fadmagazine.com/
Time Out, KCAW High Street Windows, https://www.timeout.com/
Kensington and Chelsea Art Week High Street Windows https://www.kcaw.co.uk/high-street FAD Magazine, KCAW High Street Windows, Fry UP https://fadmagazine.com
Collectible Dry magazine, KCAW High Street Windows, Fry UP, https://www.collectibledry.com
Interview with The Royal Docks, https://www.royaldocks.london/articles/sculpted-from-sugar-silvertown-legend-henry-tate-gets-a-fitting-tribute Interview with Art Reveal, https://artrevealmagazine/docs/no34 Article in Dazed Digital, http://www.dazeddigital.com
Article in Killscreen by Caty McCarthy, https://killscreen.com
Interview with Focus LDN, http://www.focusldn.com
Credentials
- Shortlisted for Fountain of Hygiene, The Aidan Threlfall Award, and First Prize.
- Studied under renowned artists
- Internationally exhibited
Purchase artwork by Gala Bell
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Achievements & Goals
- Being invited by the BBC and Tate and Lyle to make sculpture out of sugar and to be involved with their amazing historical archive at the Tate Sugar Factory
- Achieving my MA at the Royal College of Art
- Being selected by some fantastic curators to be in their exhibition in Berlin with KCC
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Genre & Style
- Avante Garde
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Inspiration & Vision
- Materials
- Colour
- Cultural Difference
