This May in galleries 1, 2 and 3, we are presenting Optics, an exhibition of new paintings by Richard Bell. In these new works Bell pushes his abstract language to new levels of opticality, burying text within them like Ishihara tests for colour-blindness.
Equally concerned with the legacy of abstraction and the aesthetics of Western Desert painting, these works provide an auto critique for our times. Within the distraction and dazzle of colour and movement lies a darker message – as things fall apart, optics are everything.
The exhibition will also premiere Bell’s monumental new work Res-Nullius, painted for exhibition at the Museo della Civilita in Rome later this year. In gallery 3, we will be presenting his video Bell’s Theorem for the first time in Australia.
Opening Event: Friday May 9, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Image: A Race to the Bottom, 2025, Acrylic on Canvas. Photograph by Carl Warner.
