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contact name: Craig Bell
phone: 612.803.4540
email: wilsonbell@usfamily.net

location address:
1500 Jackson St. NE, Ste. 369
Minneapolis MN 55413

open to public: yes
hours: First Thursdays of the month, Art-A-Whirl, Art Attack and by appointment

CRAIG BELL



For some years now, Craig Bell has been developing his own unique form of artistic expression. Often depicting aerial views, his series of imagined urban landscapes are a fanciful mix of reality, fantasy, and myth. Visual stories writ large on canvas. Playful, funny, mysterious and sometimes even a bit sinister, his wholly original canvases burst with detail, drawing the viewer into his fertile imagination. Craig Bell was born on the wind-swept plains of South Dakota in 1948. An airplane ride as a ten-year-old boy provided Craig with his first glimpse of the world from a "bird's eye" perspective. It certainly wouldn't be his last. It was the genesis of a fascination that would come to fruition in his adult life as an artist.

Bell is a self-trained artist, a fact he takes pride in. He has always carried a sketchbook, filling them up at a prodigious pace for the past several decades. He regularly explored the stacks of Twin Cities libraries, poring through the books of every artist he could find, gradually accumulating an impressive library of his own. Early on, he was attracted to the photo-realist painters of the 60s and 70s, Richard Estes in particular. Further studies revealed the likes of Modigliani and Rothko, among many others who fed his mind. More recently, the nocturnal cityscapes of Edward Hopper have been influential. The artist says, "I draw and paint as often as I can, for art is my release. It is the way I'm best able to convey my thoughts and express what I see in my mind's eye." Bell's award-winning work has been exhibited throughout the Midwest and is in numerous private collections. He resides in St. Paul, MN with his wife, Paula. His studio has been located in the Northrop King Building of Northeast Minneapolis since 1996.

Craig A. Bell/Selected Exhibitions


2006 Juried Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN.

2006 Juried Exhibition, Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN.

2006 Rogue Buddha Gallery, Minneapolis, MN.

2005 Juried Exhibition, Thrivent For Lutherans. Minneapolis, MN.

2005 Juried Exhibition, Arts in Harmony. Elk River, MN.

2005 Solo Exhibition, City Hall. Minneapolis, MN.

2004 Juried Exhibition, Hopkins Center for the Arts. Hopkins, MN.

2004 Juried Exhibition, Bloomington Art Center. Bloomington, MN.

2003 Juried Exhibition, Bloomington Art Center. Bloomington, MN.

2003 The Figure Show, Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Minnetonka, MN.

2002 Juried Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair. St. Paul, MN.

2002 Group Exhibition, Phipps Center for the Arts. Hudson, WI.

2002 Juried Exhibition, Bloomington Art Center. Bloomington, MN.

2002 The Figure Show, Minnetonka Center for the Arts. Minnetonka, MN.

2001 Juried Exhibition, Muskegon Museum of Art. Muskegon, MI.

2001 57th Juried Exhibition, Sioux City Arts Center. Sioux City, IA.

2001 The Figure Show, Minnetonka Center for the Arts. Minnetonka, MN.

2000 Juried Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair. St. Paul, MN.

2000 Biennial 2D Show, Juried Exhibition, MN Museum of American Art. St Paul, MN.

2000 Foot in the Door Show, Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Minneapolis, MN.

2000 The Figure Show, Minnetonka Center for the Arts. Minnetonka, MN.

1997 Solo Exhibition, Studio 15. Minneapolis, MN.

1993 Juried Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair. St. Paul, MN.

1992 Solo Exhibition, Speedboat Gallery. St. Paul, MN.

1991 Juried Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair. St. Paul, MN.

1991 Group Exhibition, Circa Gallery. Minneapolis, MN.

1989 Juried Exhibition, Bloomington Art Center. Bloomington, MN.

1988 Juried Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair. St. Paul, MN.

1985 Juried Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair. St. Paul, MN.

Country of Citizenship:
United States

Birth Place:
South Dakota

Birth Date:
October 22, 1948

Gender:
Male

Active Place:
Minneapolis

Minnesota County:
Hennepin

Painter