Michael Bell (artist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Bell

Michael Bell, American artist, (born 1971) is a painter, muralist and screenwriter best known for his larger-than-life sized thematic gangster series paintings [1] and for his infamous portrait painting clientele, which includes John Gotti [2] and numerous actors from The Sopranos, Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale and CSI: Miami, including longtime friend Joseph R. Gannascoli (aka Vito Spatafore), Tony Sirico (aka Paulie Walnuts) and Sofia Milos. Bell is also a domestic violence activist, receiving the Los Angeles Good Shepherd Community Service Award in 2005 [3] and does talk radio interviews on the topic with friend Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, slain ex-wife of O.J. Simpson.[4] In 2012 Bell's activism led to his contributing projects on "30 Human Rights" for artist friend Eric Fischl;[5] and a notable portrait that made international headlines in the Huffington Post of Amanda Todd, the Port Coquitlam, B.C. teen that committed suicide on October 10, 2012.[6]

Bell has also excelled in the field of education, with achievements that include founding and sponsoring "ArtQuest" as one of the largest and most community inclusive student art exhibitions in the country, co-sponsored by Kathy Kahre-Samuels, Owner of ArtQuest, Inc., St. Louis, MO.[7] Bell is Southern High's first ever Teacher of the Year (2000); the Maryland Art Education Association Teacher of the Year (2002) and was awarded the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Teacher of the Year (2004), becoming one of 24 Maryland State Teachers of the Year (2005). This led to Bell being commissioned to paint the official portrait of Nancy Grasmick, Maryland's first female State Superintendent of Schools and the U.S.'s longest serving appointed schools chief.[8] In 2008 Bell helped write Southern High School's National Blue Ribbon Schools Proposal. In 2009 Bell became one of just two Secondary National Presenters selected by Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education (2009) to give a national presentation on "Arts, Innovation & Design." In 2010 Bell joined the ranks of just 3% of the nation's educators to earn National Board Certification.[9] Since 2010, Bell has produced four National NAEA Rising Star Award Winners four year in a row, given to just one selected student artist in the entire country;[10] received the National Art Education Association’s 2013 National Art Honor Society Sponsor of the Year Award;[11] the nation's William U. Harris Award of Excellence;[12] and the 2013 Washington Post’s Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher of the Year award.[13]

Bell exhibits his large thematic series paintings in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Biography

Early life

Born April 10, on his Mother's birthday, Bell experienced success in art at an early age, winning 1st Place in the first juried art exhibition he ever entered at the age of five. As a young artist he spent a lot of his time in and around New York City studying art with his maternal grandmother, a self-taught artist from Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Then tragedy struck, with the still-born death of his sister, the murder of an Uncle who had served 20 years in Trenton State Prison for a Gangland hit,[14] and the death of his Grandfather, a former professional boxer, at the age of 70. It was during this time period Bell began to explore life's personal and psychological issues through his paintings.

Painting career

As a “Celebrity Artist" to the stars Michael Bell has painted, by commission, many famous people. Bell's career was first sparked after painting a portrait for John Gotti. This led to portraits for actors from The Sopranos, Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale and many more.

Bell has played a vital role in pioneering the development of the Visual Journaling movement, giving workshops throughout the country, and donating his time and art to charity benefits that have helped raise awareness and thousands of dollars from his painting sales. In February 2007 Bell was the featured artist at the world’s second annual For the Love of Chocolate benefit at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago where the first in his series of seven "Per Amore del Cioccolato" oil paintings was auctioned for $12,000.00.[15] In 2008 Bell did another Red Carpet Portrait unveiling with The Sopranos Frank Vincent, Dominic Chianese and Joseph R. Gannascoli at the Stars & Cigars Gala at The Vanderbilt at South Beach on Staten Island, New York to help Bright Steps Forward raise $50,000 for their charity.[16]

On April 18, 2008, on his son's first birthday, Bell launched his TICKET TO RIDE Painting Series in New York City at a launch party thrown for him by club owner/promoter Noel Ashman. This led to Bell writing his first screenplay based on the stories behind his "Ticket to Ride" paintings and a major motion picture is in the works. In 2009 Bell returned to The Vanderbilt at South Beach to debut a short documentary film and 30 human rights artworks to benefit Project Meridian Foundation.[17][18] In 2010 Bell was commissioned to paint another portrait for Joseph R. Gannascoli that would become the artwork for Gannascoli's new Cugine Cigar line.

In 2013 Bell teamed up with Mob Wives Toni Marie Ricci to create a series of narrative paintings about her life for 2013. Each painting is photo-realist in style, like vignettes from a timeless movie, amped up with car bomb explosions, courtroom trials and a visual dialogue between good and evil, sex and violence, and innocence vs. corruption juxtaposed against iconic metropolitan backdrops in New York City. Bell debuted Painting 1 on VH1's Mob Wives during Episode 7 "No Love Lost", at the Carriage House Arts Center in New York City before a large crowd of gallery patrons and New York socialites.[19]

Bell's next thematic painting series for 2014, "Carnevale Italiano," is a prequel to his "Ticket to Ride" painting series and features narrative scenes featuring his longtime best friend Dominic Capone III, Al Capone's great nephew. These will be debuted on Capone's new reality television series "The Capones" which airs this fall.[20]

Presentations and keynotes

  • 2013 31 Nights and Mastering the AP Studio Art Drawing & 2D Photography Portfolios (NAEA Convention, Fort Worth, TX)
  • Building Relationships: Full-Day Presentation to New Teachers, Gambrills, MD
  • 2012 31 Nights and Mastering the AP Studio Art Portfolio (NAEA Convention, New York, NY)
  • 2011 Talk: “How to Make it as an Artist”, Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA
  • Mastering AP Drawing and AP 2D Design Portfolios (MAEA Convention) Statewide Presenter
  • 2010 Igniting Creativity within the Emerging Artist (NAEA Convention, Seattle, WA)
  • Building Relationships: Full-Day Presentation to all AACPS New Teachers, Gambrills, MD
  • Collaboration Art: Hands-on Workshop
  • 2009 National Blue Ribbon Presentation: One of just two Selected National Presenters for the USDE, Washington D.C.
  • 2008 Visual Journaling, Presenter to all Art Teachers, Anne Arundel County, MD
  • Building Relationships: Presenter to New Teachers, Anne Arundel County, MD
  • 2008 Keynote Graduation Speaker to the Class of 2008, Southern, MD
  • 2005 Visual Journaling: NAEA Convention Presenter with Dr. Jane Bates & Dr. Ray Martens, Towson University
  • 2005 Dioramas in Sculptural Form Workshop, Carver Center, Anne Arundel County, MD
  • 2005 Expanding Vision through Art Presentation, MAEA Fall Convention, Montgomery County, MD
  • 2005 Keynote Address to 600 New Teachers at The Carver Center, MD

Awards and honors

2013: Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher of the Year
2013: William U. Harris National Award of Excellence
2013: NAEA National Art Honor Society Sponsor of the Year Award
2010: National Board Certification
2010: Appointed to Superintendent's Teacher Advisory Council
2009: National Blue Ribbon Presenter, USDE, Washington D.C.
2005: Los Angeles Good Shepherd Community Service Award
2004: Anne Arundel County Public School's Teacher of the Year
2003: Who's Who Among America's Teachers
2002: Maryland Art Education Association's Most Outstanding Arts Educator of the Year Award
2001: State Superintendent Commendation for Post September 11 Relief Efforts
2000: Southern High School Teacher of the Year Award

References

  1. ↑ Cid, M., "The Ticket to Ride Painting Series" Yareah Arts Magazine, 20, January 2013.
  2. ↑ Needham, C., "Victoria's Secret: She Can Paint" New York Newsday, 17, July 2003.
  3. ↑ Sigler, M., "Domestic Violence Activist Honored" The Capital, 30, September, 2003, p. C3.
  4. ↑ Sigler, M., "Bell dons his tux at Albert Schweitzer Leadership Awards" The Capital, June 6, pp. B3, B4.
  5. ↑ Winslow, T., "Painting with a Broad Brush" The Capital, 19, April 2012.
  6. ↑ Lau, A., "Amanda Todd Painting by U.S. Artist Michael Bell" The Huffington Post, B.C., 12 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Carr, K., "ArtQuest is Set for April 25" Edgewater Patch, 20, March 2013.
  8. ↑ Loh, L., "County Honors Bell" The Baltimore Sun, 14, April 2004.
  9. ↑ Stephenson, M., "Michael Bell: Nationally Board Certified Teacher" South River Source, 31, December 2009.
  10. ↑ Stephenson, M., "Southern student wins national art award" The Capital, 7, January 2010.
  11. ↑ Stephenson, M., "Southern Art Student Named Rising Star in Texas Ceremony" South River Source, 11, March 2013.
  12. ↑ Hopkins, J., "Michael Bell wins National Honors" The Capital, 7, March 2013.
  13. ↑ Stephenson, M., "Art Chair Receives Washington Post Outstanding Teacher Award" South River Source, 8, April 2013.
  14. ↑ Wren, C. and English, M., "Murder New Jersey Style" LOOK Magazine, 10, March 1970
  15. ↑ Ralli, N., "Key Choices in Chicago Happenings" Chicago SCENE Magazine, February 2007.
  16. ↑ Stephenson, M., "Harwood's Celebrity Artist" The Capital, 3, October 2008.
  17. ↑ Scanlon, M., "Stars & Cigars" Industry Magazine, November - December 2008 p.67.
  18. ↑ Benanti, Carol., "Glitzy fun for a good cause" Staten Island Advance, 10, September 2008
  19. ↑ Soprano, C., "Michael Bell paints Scars of a Real Mob Wife" M.O.B. WIVES Official Blog, 3, December 2012.
  20. ↑ Rackl, L., "New reality series The Capones hopes to be a hit for Reelz Channel this fall" Chicago Sun-Times, 10, April 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.