Jagged, Glacier-Inspired Glass By a California Icon, On View at Hauser + Wirth

In recent years, there have been ways to catch a glimpse in New York of the work of Larry Bell, a seminal figure in California Light & Space movement, who still practices in his joint studios in Taos, New Mexico and in Los Angeles — glass cubes permanently on view at the Judd Foundation, a small exhibition at an uptown gallery, an inclusion in the Whitney Biennial back in 2017. But Bell’s latest exhibition at Hauser + Wirth, on view until April 11, might include the largest array of work yet. Called Still Standing, the title could refer both to the octogenarian’s practice, which shows no signs of slowing, and to what Bell calls his “standing walls” — aka the architecturally-scaled crystalline forms that result from Bell deconstructing his signature colored glass cubes. “Standing at eight feet tall, these works embody the influence of the American West — the ways in which the distinctive light and vast, open space encourage a more wide-ranging vision of technical and aesthetic possibilities,” the release reads. Also on view are small-scale studies for Bell’s larger works and cubes that show Bell’s limitless curiosity for the ways in which one might surface-treat a single pane of glass.

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