Stephen Bird

I first came across Michael Bell's works when we both exhibited at the Ray Hughes Gallery in Sydney at the start of the new millennium. Since then I have seen exhibitions of his work in a variety of media including paintings, sculptures, constructions, drawings and ceramics. There is always a raw and unpretentious joy in his work. His works look deceptively simple as he effortlessly employs several conflicting visual languages in one work with the skill of a master magician. One has to leave behind stereotypical and formulaic views about picture making when you view his work in order to fully appreciate his unique vision. 

Michael and I both work figuratively with imagery drawn from aspects of our everyday lives. The idiom of our work explores the crossroads where painting and sculpture collide together to form a new and hybrid language which I hope can connect and communicate with a broad range of people.

Michael Bell

Stephen and I have worked independently of each other for this show, but know each other’s work very well. We trust our work will complement each other.