Sculptor Toby Bell is a figurative sculptor working out of Perth, WA. People enjoy the movement and vitality that he portrays in his sculptures, and was a favourite for the peoples choice award in Sculpture By The Sea 2012. Toby likes to work large, and has exhibited both locally and in America. “I want my work to live, I want people to feel the energy, the emotion of form, and be moved by that power” Toby Bell.
Artworks – All Sold
Toby Bell – Artist Statement
Toby Bell has been a figurative sculptor for 15 years. His sculptures express emotional energy through form and movement. He works using innovative and contemporary techniques in acrylic metal combinations, plastics, steel and bronze.”I let the sculpture speak for itself: Movement Energy Spirit” Toby Bell Toby explores the use of modern materials and techniques to produce sculptures that aim to convey emotional energy through form and movement. His academic training in anatomy as well as his passion for experimentation with new mediums can be clearly seen in his expressive work Son to a Russian painter and a Scottish doctor, his childhood in London was torn between the opposing worlds of science and art. This conflict is an underlying theme in his work. Toby Bell has exhibited both nationally and internationally. In 2010 he was the winner of the City of Swan Sculpture Prize. In 2013 he exhibited at Nieto Gallery in San Francisco. Whilst there he participated in the Burning Man Art Festival for which he constructed a life size aluminum and steel dragon. This was flown from Perth in sections and installed at the festival in the Nevada desert over a period of 3 weeks. Toby’s large scale work Caliban, was created for Sculpture by the Sea 2012, and explores the passion and power of male and female energy present within each individual. The sexual and emotional tension of this uneasy balance is the current focus of his work. “For me the process of creating a sculpture is an effort to translate movement, feeling and energy into the finished form”
Notable past projects: NOAH
Noah was a large scale sculpture created for the Blazing Swan festival in the and the precursor to a monumental sized version for transportation to the USA for the Burning Man Festival 2015. Main Effigy Sculpture , Blazing Swan Artistic director for Blazing Swan effigy build Designer and artistic director for this 14 meter high wooden figurative effigy. The heart of the festival.
Group & Solo Exhibitions
- 2015 Perth Modern School
- 2016 Aruma: Electric plataypus
- 2016 A Stray Alien, Fremantle
- 2015 Blazing Swan festival, Kulin
- 2014 Spring Rose Art
- 2014 Hale Art
- 2014 April – June Gascoyne in May
- 2014 May – Barefoot Blacktie, Shark Bay
- 2014 May – Burringarrah festival of Fire, Burringarrah
- 2014 May – Gascoyne River Music Festival , Gascoyne Junction
- 2014 May – Tropicool , Carnarvon
- 2014 May- Nigaloo Whale Shark Festival, Exmouth
- 2014 April – Blazing Swan
- 2012 September – Spring Rose Art
- 2013 August – Burning Man Festival , Black Rock City, Nevada
- 2013 July – Hale Art
- 2013 March – Stations of the Cross. Wesely Cathedral Mar 2013 Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe
- 2012 October – Sculpture in the Street , Fremantle.
- 2012 September – Spring Rose Art
- 2012 August – Hale Art
- 2012 July – Push for More Show, Moores Building , Fremantle. March 2012 Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe
- 2011 August – Burning Man Festival , Black Rock City, Nevada
- 2011 July – Hale Art
- 2011 May – Soroptimist International Auction
- 2011 February – “Carnivale” Freight Gallery , Fremantle.
- 2011 February – “Floating Bodies” Colourlust Gallery, N Fremantle
- 2011 October – Netto Gallery, San Francisco.
- 2010 November – “Drawn Together” Moores Gallery , Fremantle.
- 2010 July – Hale Art
- 2010 May – Soroptimist International Auction
- 2009 + 2010 Trinity College
- 2008 Midland Junction Galleries “Into the Light”
Collections
- 2012 Major private collection in WA
- 2012 Artbank WA
Commissions
- 2016 Aruma: Electric plataypus
- 2013 Perth Modern School . “Ariel”
- 2013 York sculpture park
Awards
- Winner of City of Swan sculpture award for exhibition “Observing the Human Form” 2010
Reviews & Publicity
- “toby bell, whose large faux granite work caliban sold before the event opened, is a favourite for the people’s choice award…” Sculpture by the Sea draws the crowds Stephen Bevis, The West Australian, 13 March 2012
- “…there is an unusually brilliant example in toby bell’s massive caliban that makes a haunting and evocative figure as it crouches over the beach…” Nothing like a day at the beach sculptures Darren Jorgensen, The Weekend West, 10-11 March 2012
- “caliban is one of the most striking sculptures in this year’s sculpture by the sea…” A push and a pull … and he’s out Sarah McNeill, The Post, 3 March 2012
- “i love the symbiosis of art and science. like this creature, both worlds are at war with each other, but if you live with one and not the other, in the end it will destroy you…” Cottesloe monster is coming Sarah McNeill, Post, 11 February 2012
In Depth Articles
- Behind the Artist: Toby Bell
- Lyn DiCiero, The Artist’s Chronicle, March 2012
- Creative cure for part-time doctor
- Community Newspaper, 28 February 2012