Richard Bell

But What is Your Name?, 2008
acrylic on canvas
120.0 x 150.0 cm
signed, dated and inscribed with title ‘BUT, WHAT/IS YOUR NAME?’/Richard Bell/2008’ (on the reverse)

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Provenance
Bett Gallery, Hobart
Private collection
Private collection, Sydney


‘Self-styled cultural maverick and art world renegade Richard Bell well disguises the tender experiences of his youth and adult life that fuel the furnace of his art. The combination of verbal and visual onslaughts that comprise his raison d'être are a calculated but simultaneously honest ploy, realised in the seemingly dichotomous and idiosyncratic nature of the work of this formidable artist. In a tactical ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ approach, his art takes the offensive and opens the door to dialogue in the true tradition of radical politics. Armed with the courage and conviction born of a life marked by discrimination, Bell images himself splayed crucifix-like, or snarling, or as the heartless heartbreaker, and revels in slaughtering lambs and sacred cows with fierce abandon… Like the recuring target symbol in his paintings that plays on Western Desert art motifs, Bell positions himself as a moving target, inviting his audience to take a shot – and usually sending a volley of ammunition in return.’ (H Perkins, 'Richard Bell', Culture Warriors - National Indigenous Art Triennial 07, NGA, Canberra, 2007, p. 60)

  • But What is Your Name?

Image courtesy of the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. Photo by Geoff Boccalatte


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Bell was born in Charlesville, Queensland in 1953, a member of the Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang communities. He lives and works in Brisbane.

In 2003 Bell was awarded the '20th National Telstra Indigenous Art Award', Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory for his work 'Scientia E Metaphysica (Bells Theorem)' 2003, which bore the words 'Aboriginal Art it's a White Thing.'

He has featured in numerous exhibitions since 1990, including 'My Country, I Still Call Australia Home', Queensland Art Gallery/GoMA, Brisbane, 2013; the '4th Auckland Triennal: Last Ride in a Hot Air Balloon', 2010; 'Half-Light: Portraits from Black Australia' at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2009; the 9th and 16th Biennales of Sydney, 1992 and 2008; 'Culture Warriors, the National Indigenous Art Triennial', 2007; 'Australian Perspecta', 1993, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; the significant European touring exhibition 'Aratjara: art of the First Australians', 1993 and, 'Unfamiliar Territory, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art', 1991.

In 2014, 'Embassy', a significant solo exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art featured as part of the Perth International Arts Festival and, the Artspace, Sydney exhibition 'Imagining Victory' began its tour of regional New South Wales and Victoria to 2016. In 2011 the Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne held Bell's 'Lessons On Etiquette And Manners', and 'Uz vs. them', a major touring exhibition of Bell's work was organised by the American Federation of the Arts. It premiered at Tufts University, Boston and toured to venues across North America throughout 2013, accompanied by a major publication. In 2009, an exhibition of Bell's practice to date entitled 'I am not sorry', was held at Location One, New York, with him receiving the Location One International Fellowship, for that year and in 2006 his work was the subject of the survey exhibition 'Positivity', presented by the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.