A talk with Larry Bell

From a letter to Barbara Rose about the primary concern of my work.

Once an artist friend of mine gave a party for some close friends, it was in celebration of his recent marriage. As the party went on, he took several people into the kitchen to try some very expensive Danish cheese, that he thought was fabulous.
I managed to slip unnoticed into the room to watch these gourmets enjoy themselves. Each one was given a small taste, and they all rolled their eyes back in their heads in sheer ecstasy as they savored the tiny morsel.
When I was discovered standing in the corner I was asked by one of the guest if I wanted a taste. My friend immediately replied, that to give me a taste was like ‘casting pearls before swine’. We all laughed and I had my taste. As it turned out I didn’t like the cheese, obviously proving his point.

Larry Bell

– Quoted from: ‘Larry Bell’, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 8 December 1967 – 14 January 1968, Catalogue nr. 427

Larry Bell (born in 1939 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American artist. He lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, and maintains a studio in Venice, California. He is in Amsterdam for the exhibition ‘Larry Bell, Sarah Crowner meet Marlow Moss’, opening 20 April at Kunstverein. Bell is jointly invited by Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Kunstverein to hold an artist talk, and will be interviewed afterwards by Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam director Ann Goldstein in the Teijin Auditorium, Stedelijk Museum on Thursday 18 April at 8pm.

Reservation is required. Please send an e-mail to reservations@stedelijk.nl, stating your full name, e-mail address, telephone number, and the date of the event for which you want to reserve a seat.

This project is made possible with the support of Stichting Niemeijer Fonds; Stadsdeel Zuid; Het Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and Kunstverein’s (Gold) members.