BENJ A MIN BELL AS

GRANTS / AWARDS

2012  

• Franklin Furnace Fund 

 • Individual Artist CAAP Grant,  Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs

2011  

• SAIC Faculty Enrichment Grant

2010  

• SPACES, Cleveland, OH

• Carthage College, Carthage, WI

2009  

• University of Wisconsin, Green Bay

• University of Houston visiting artist

2008  

• Redux Contemporary Art Center visiting artist

• College of Charleston visiting artist

2007  

• Illinois Art Council, international artist grant

• 1a space, artist grant

• Open Space Artist Centre, Dowsing for Failure artist project grant

2006  

• Contemporary Artists Center, artist travel grant

• Working Frameworks artist grant

• Signal and Noise Festival, Video In Studios artist project grant

• art 44/46, artist project grant

2005  

• Waterloo Arts Festival, artist project grant

1999 

• Three Rivers Art Festival, Pittsburgh, PA, Best 2D work

• 15 Minutes of Fame, Albuquerque, NM, Gallery Honorable Mention

1998 

• Pittsburgh Progressive Artists Juried Exhibition, Best Oil/Acrylic Painting

SELECTED SOLO, TWO, and THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2012  

•  Benjamin Bellas & Oli Watt, Kirk’s Apartment, Chicago, IL

• what comes later, with Heather Harvey, Kohl Gallery, Washington College

• represent the sound outside these spaces, slow, Chicago, IL

• Losing something you never had, Flashpoint Gallery, Washington DC

2010  

•  A Vague Whole, SPACES, Cleveland, OH

2009  

•  for the time being, with C.C. Ann Chen, Slow, Chicago, IL

• ...like a cameo appearance except: no stars, no show, & no one cares, Cranbrook Academy of Art

• As yet untitled, A Clean Poorly Lighted Space, University of Wisconsin Stout, Stout, WI

2008  

• Greetings From Somewhere Between a Slow Onset Quarter-life Crisis and Fading Off Into My Andre Agassi Days, Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC

2006  

• Everything I’ve ever thought about myself has already been said by someone else... about themselves, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA

2001  

• Something really abstract about the equinox, ARC gallery, Chicago, IL

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 

2013  

• Liberti(n)es, Open Space, Baltimore, MD Curated by Keith J. Varadi

2012  

• hi • a • tus, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI

• B.A.D., Beverly Arts Center, Beverly, IL

2011  

• HEAD, slow, Chicago, IL

• i can’t go on. i must go on, Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL

• If I Do Nothing, Nothing Does, Julius Ceasar, Chicago, IL

• No Joke, Collaboraction, Chicago, IL

• The Open Daybook Project, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, CA

• Beacons, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI

2010  

• A Brief History of..., Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA

• Hide and Seek, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

Curator Tricia Van Eck

• 7a*11d’s International Festival of Performance Art, Toronto, CA

• Booze and Bacon, slow, Chicago, IL

• You say tomato, I say tomato, NXNW, Wigan, UK

• Reduplication of the Real, tactileBOSCH Gallery, Cardiff, UK

• Carthage College, Kenosha, WI

2009  

• Boots Contemporary Art Space, St. Louis, MO

• Lawton Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay

• re:Place, Georgia College & State University Museum, Milledgeville GA 

• Something About Nothing, Kuhn Fine Arts Gallery, The Ohio State University at Marion, OH

2008  

• Pedestrian, Art in Odd Places, New York, NY

• ONE MINUTE / ONE NIGHT, Garage Projects, Atlanta, GA 

• NEXT Art Fair, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL

• Only Bluedeer Lonely American, Alogon Gallery, Chicago, IL

2007  

• Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey

• Rough Trade, Present Tense Boston, MA & Chicago, IL

• Irrational Exhibits, Track 16, Los Angeles, CA

• i.e.: between, Harold Washington College, Chicago, IL

• concerning tomorrow, basement gallery, Chicago, IL

Curator Jason Lazarus

• i.e.llusions, 1a space - Hong Kong

• Interiority, Hyde Park Art Center - Contemporary Arts Council, Chicago, IL

• 312 OnScreen, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University, Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

• 2nd Kargart International Video Festival; Courier Exhibition, Kargart - Istanbul, Turkey

• Stranger than Fiction, Academy of Fine Arts - Helsinki, Finland

• Dowsing for Failure, Open Space Artist Centre - Victoria, BC

2006  

• Sight Unseen Festival, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL

• Z O N A D E A R T E  E N  A C C I O N  2006, Buenos Aires, Argentina

• International Experimental Film Festival Carbunari 2006, Florean Museum of Contemporary Art , 

Baia Mare, Romania

• art 44/46, Lakeview East - Chicago, IL

• Working Frameworks, Cornell University, the Knowlton School of Architecture, Sky Lab, and Columbia College

• LUKSUZ Festival, Krsko, Slovenia 2006

• Something to do with Failure, MPAC Gallery, University of St. Francis, Joliet, IL

Curator Chester Costello

• Art Concept Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia

• amorph!06 International Performance Art Festival, MUU - Helsinki, Finland

• Stranger than Fiction, The Lab, San Francisco, CA 

• Reel Shorts, The Arts Center, Saratoga County Arts Council, Saratoga Springs, NY

• i.e., Alogon Gallery, Chicago, IL

• traversing tableux, Modern Fuel, Kingston ON, Canada

• Hell on Reels, Astoria Moving Picture Festival, Astoria, NY

• Book - Art, Artetica, Rome, Italy

• Pixeldance Video Art Festival, In Flux Art, Thessaloniki, Greece

• Streaming Festival {The Hague}, Streaming Festival, The Hague, Netherlands

• i.e. and The Merger, Gallery upstairs, Columbus, OH

• i.e. group show, Secret show Series, Nashville, TN

• Signal and Noise Festival, Video In Studios, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

• Happily Ever After? Symposium, The Facility, Performance as Research at London Metropolitan University, London, UK

• Mix Art LAUNCH PARTY FOR THE JAMES HOTEL, James Hotel, Chicago, IL

• Engendered Species, CSULB GalleriesAdvocate Gallery at the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA

• In Feed @ Blackwood, The Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada

• Plugged In Fest III, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME

• Spectacles of the Real: Truth and Representation in Art and Literature, Opensource Art, Champaign, IL

• Middle Management (Performances), Monique Meloche, Chicago, IL

• Temporary Allegiance, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL

• Smoke and Mirrors: Photography and Performance, Ohio University, Athens, OH

2005  

• Experiment 400/5, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL

• Waterloo Arts Festival,  Cleveland, OH

• Fine Tee Shurt Art, Endicott College, Beverly, MA

• Chance Encounters, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA 

• MFA Theis Exhibition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL, 

Curator Mary Jane Jacob

• this this this this this this this and this, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL

2004  

• CODE is IMPLEMENT, 1926 Gallery, Chicago, IL

• Emerging Illinois Artists, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL 

Curator Staci Boris

• IF:THEN, 1926 Gallery, Chicago, IL Curator Melissa Walker and Shannon Mullally  

2000  

• Shadows and Dreams, Rosenthal Gallery, Fayetteville, NC

1999  

• The Art of the State: Pennsylvania, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA, 

Curators James Mahoney and Paige Turner

• Three Rivers Art Festival, Pittsburgh, PA, Curator by Margery King

• Gutter Beauty Invitational Art Exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA, 

Curator by Heather Mallax

• 15 Minutes of Fame, Albuquerque, NM, Curator by Roberta Gossman

• Pittsburgh Progressive Artists Juried Exhibition, PPG Wintergarden, Pittsburgh, PA 

Curator Delanie Jenkins

• 75th Annual Erie Juried Spring Exhibition, Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA 

Curator Robert Storr

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

• BmoreArt Feb. by Sean Ostrowski 2013

• Baltimore City Paper Feb. 12 by Michael Farley 2013

 • Best of Chicago 2012, FRIEZE

 • Best of Chicago 2012, Newcity

 • Washington CityPaper Nov. 16 by John Anderson, November 2012

 • Washington CityPaper Nov. 20 by Ashley Larkin, November 2012 

 • WAMU NPR Interview by Emily Berman, November 2012

•  Entertain Me DC by Desire’ Moses, November 2012

•  Washington Post by Mark Jenkins, November 2012

•  Bert Stabler, Newcity, October 2012

•  Claire Glass, Newcity, March 13, 2012 

•  flavorpill, Editor’s pick, Abraham Ritchie, March 2012

• Hunter Thomas, Lauren.  Head Pieces, Chicago Weekly, December 7, 2011

• Foumberg, Jason.  Imaginary Monuments for Chicago: An Artists’ Project, Newcity, September 8, 2011

• Mecklenburger, Shane.  COLLABORATING WITH THE ENEMY, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, August 2011

• Foumberg, Jason.  2011 Breakout Artists, Newcity, April 28, 2011

• Bellas, Benjamin.  A Man Finds In The Woods, Cadillac Cicatrix

• Earle, David.The Open Daybook, Mark Batty Publisher (distributed by Random House), 2010 

• Weinberg, Lauren “Booze and Bacon” Time Out Chicago, Issue 285, August 2010

• Curico, Seth “The 7th Annual Midwestern Assorted Produce Snuff Shorts Film Triennial” Daily Serving, 2009

• Simac, Molly “Magic of I.E. Illusion” – 4th Estate, 2009

• Mitchell, John E.  Where’s the Outrageous, North Adams Transcript, June 12, 2009

• Apple, Lauri. The Chicagoist, February 6th 2009

• Curcio, Seth.  Redux Contemporary Art Center Exhibition Catalog, 2008

• First Thing in the Morning with Andy Thomas, April 4, 2008

• Labberton, Kinsey. The Scene, Charleston City Paper, March 26, 2008 

• Pool, Olivia.  Benjamin Bellas, The Post and Courier, March 20, 2008

• Jackson, Erica. City Picks, Charleston City Paper, March 17, 2008

• Gehring, Kristin.  Exploring the possible heaven, Chicago Journal, March 12, 2008

• Foumberg, Jason.  Eye Exam Fantastic Antics, Newcity Chicago, March 11, 2008

• i.e.llusions exhibition catalog, 2008

• Wong, Kevin. It’s all an illusion, South China Morning Post, September 25, 2007

• Michaels, Burt.  Art Break, Newcity Chicago, September 18, 2007

• Melissa Lam, i.e.illusions, South China Morning Post, September 10, 2007

• Interiority Exhibition Catalog, June, 2007

• Dowsing for failure : Open Space Arts Society, November 24, 2006-January 27, 2007 : 

Ted Hiebert & Doug Jarvis, curators. -- Victoria, B.C. : Open Space Arts Society, 2007

• Mitchell, John E.  CAC artist finds the absurd in life, North Adams Transcript, 2006

• Contemporary Artists Center Exhibition Catalog, May 2006

• Bellas, Benjamin.  Distribution of Promotional Articles Illustrating Context as Disqualifying Factor, DRAIN

• Plugged in Fest III opens at CMCA, Village Soup, February 28, 2006

• Engendered Species Exhibition Catalog, Amanda Moss, 2006

• Elliot, Susan. Smoke and Mirrors exhibit brings art to life, Speakeasy, January 17, 2006

• Workman, Michael. Eye Exam Ladies Night Newcity Chicago, January 10, 2006

• Bad at Sports: Episode 19 Michelle Grabner pt. 2. www.badatsports.com, 2006

• Bellas, Benjamin.  “Experiments in the Bellas Artes.”  Chicago: Lulu.com, 2005

• Meskin, Anya and E.V.  “Benjamin Bellas.” CODE is IMPLEMENT  catalogue. November 2004

• LeCourtois-Mitchell, Vivian  “Making Art Come Alive”,Eye- Level. Autumn 2001

• “Three Rivers Art Festival”, The Meadville Tribune, Meadville PA,  May 1999.

• “History Redefined”, Weekly Alibi, Albuquerque, NM, January 1999

RESIDENCIES

2009  

• Roger Brown Residency, New Buffalo, MI

2008  

• Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC

2007  

• 1a space, Hong Kong

2006  

• Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA

SELECTED VISITING ARTIST LECTURES/ENGAGEMENTS

2012  

• Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Luce Foundation Center

     • University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

     • Washington College, Chestertown, MD

2010  

• Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI

2009  

• University of Houston, Houston, TX

2008  

• College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

• Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC

• Alogon Gallery, Chicago, IL

2007  

• Dancing with myself oh oh oh oh, Harold Washington College, Chicago, IL

• Improv vs. Collaboration, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

2006  

• Resisting the 97%, SECAC/MACAA Nashville Conference

• Happy Hour, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

• A Fire-side Chat, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA

EDUCATION

2005  

M.F.A. Sculpture, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1998  

B.A. Studio Arts, minors in Art History and Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA