Victoria Bell - MFA Candidate
Project Overview - Resisting Africa (working title)
Victoria Bell's project, Resisting Africa (working title), examines the histories, tensions and linkages between the roles of artist, tourist, ethnographer and collector by responding to the John Money Collection.[1]
The John Money Collection is a complex, disparate and unusual assembly of artworks, in Gore, New Zealand to which Bell is drawn because of its permutations of Other, both literal and implied. The collection presents an uneven (and uneasy) tension between Euro-centric Western artworks and sculptures of predominately African origin presented within a Euro-centric gallery context [2].
[1] John William Money, Ph.D. (1921– 2006) was a Sexologist well-known for his specialized research into gender and sexual identity. Born in New Zealand, Money became Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Psychology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, America (1951 – 2006). Money established many strong friendships with artists and writers during his lifetime. Through these relationships Money established a dynamic personal collection of artworks from New Zealand, Australia, Africa, America and South America. Late in his life Money donated nearly 300 works of art, the bulk of his collection, to the Eastern Southland Art Gallery in Gore, Aotearoa New Zealand.
[2] A concern which was highlighted in critiques of the 1984 Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) exhibition 'Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern', which presented primitive 'affinity' souces against feted western artworks. The exhibition was critiqued for its uneven context, for example western works were dated to within weeks whereas non-western works were dated by centuries.
A complete project overview can be downloaded here.
Past Work
- Trace (2002), Installation view
- Peacock Fountain/Design no.38 (2004)
- Lei with a Faggot (2005)
- Woodie (2006)
- Horseplay (2007)
A complete list of work specifications and photograph credits can be downloaded here.
Biography
As well as working on her MFA project Bell is currently teaching in the Textiles Section, School of Art, Otago Polytechnic/Te Kura Matatini ki Otago.
She has a Diploma of Art Aotearoa-Honours from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Design & Arts College of New Zealand, Christchurch and a Bachelor of Design in Craft Art from the School of Art and Design, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Bell has exhibited extensively since 1999 and was recipient of the Olivia Spencer Bower Award for 2005
A complete list of qualifications, awards, exhibition history and selected bibliography can be downloaded here.
tekotago.ac.nz