Katie Bell: I Wanted You To Open Me, Paintings

December 14 - January 04,2025

From Spellerberg Projects: “I am enamored by the atmosphere of clubs: spaces that feel grimy, deafening, and lit by neon lights. Sweating bodies are pushed together, forcing intimacy despite the anonymity offered by these spaces. The recurring figure in my work is always seen alone, caught in a moment of privacy. Through this figure, I think about fleeting feelings like desire, despair, but also mischief and elation. I start my paintings by generating footage of myself dancing in a staged environment, incorporating strobe lights and a green screen. The videos that are created in this process eventually become important as their own works that I also think of as paintings. Color emerges as the most prominent element of the paintings, pushing and pulling the boundaries of the figure and disorienting the space she inhabits. I am invested in the task of pulling light and glow from dirty and muddy paint. I want my work not to be bright, but rather to glow from within.” – Katie Bell, 2024 Katie Bell (b. 1997) is a painter, animator, and writer based in Fairfield, Iowa. She received her MA in Studio Art at Maharishi International University in 2024 and her BA in Studio Art at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas in 2020. She has attended residencies and workshops such as Anderson Ranch Art Center and the Sou’wester. Her work has been shown in Iowa, Chicago, and Arkansas.

Reception: January 03, 2025 | 6-9 pm

Spellerberg Projects 103 S Main St
Lockhart, Texas 78644
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