Larry Bell: 6 X 6 An Improvisation

White Cube presents 6 x 6 An Improvisation, an off-site project organised to coincide with Art Basel Miami Beach. This exhibition will take place in the Melin building, located in the Miami Design District, from 1 December 2015 until 9 January 2016.

One of the leading exponents of California’s ‘Light and Space‘ movement, Bell has consistently focused on the properties of light and its interface with surface throughout his 50-year long career. For this exhibition, he will install a major ‘standing wall’ sculpture, previously exhibited at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas (2014–15). Comprising over 30 individual glass panels, this major installation responds to the dynamics of the space, allowing the particular conditions of natural light at different times of the day to transform the installation.

Bell has frequently employed glass in his work, harnessing, in particular, the material’s special properties of transmitting, absorbing and reflecting light. In 6 x 6 An Improvisation, he combines three types of glass; grey, clear and partially coated panels treated with a thermal evaporation process depositing a thin layer of nickel-chrome on its surface. Highly dramatic and visually complex, 6 x 6 An Improvisation creates a sequence of layered reflections and shapes, converging hues and densities, while maintaining the illusion of volume.

Recent installations of the standing wall sculptures in addition to the Chinati Foundation installation (2014 – 15), include 6 x 8 An Improvisation at White Cube Mason’s Yard, London (2015).