Artist Statement
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Abstraction is often the most definite form for the intangible thing in myself that I can only clarify in paint.” (Georgia O'Keeffe)
I am in constant search for my truest and most authentic expression. Each painting takes me to roads travelled as well as uncharted territory, providing challenges for growth and humility. I feel I am always beginning, that my decades of painting are just the tip of the iceberg. However, I fear that encountering the complete iceberg will always elude me and, in fact, this may be a blessing.
I currently work in oils, Encaustics and mixed media. My passion to create has taught me to venture into the unknown every single day. My work aims at expressing Passion and Poetry through a deep exploration of color harmony and shapes. Some paintings bring out both the drama and the poetry while others lean more toward one or the other. My search is the grail of total expression, the sum total of who I am as a person and as an artist. I am aware that this ambition is as high as the stars but, as Da Vinci said, "Fix your course on a star and you'll navigate any storm". Apart from creating a visual expression of who I am as an artist, I aim at creating work that resonates with viewers and opens new emotional and aesthetic vistas to them. Our humaneness, feelings, emotions are universal and what touches me may also touch others. If my work is an expression of the person I am, I will feel very gratified if viewers recognize themselves in it as well and feel what I want to impart: the passion, the drama, the poetry of life and of what we feel.
The mediums I work allow me to create paintings that are layered and rich. Having lived in three different countries and having been exposed to varied cultures has shaped the person I am. My love of layering is what best expresses the many cultures I have encountered and absorbed. It allows me to express more of me: more complexity, experiences, memories. I am strongly attracted to textures of all kinds: thin, deep, layered, superficial. The last layer, the "face" of the painting, however, must always be elegant, regardless of what came before it. I add and subtract a great deal and the discoveries I thus make, like peeling an onion, are priceless!
RESUME
EXHIBITIONS
2024
Winter Exhibit - Arizona Artists Guild
Small Work - West Valley Arts Center
From Micro to Macro - Saaca/Flinn Foundation - Phoenix.
Contemporary Art Exhibit - Desert Foothills Library Gallery
Camelback Gallery -Abstract with Red 2024 Art Exhibit - Silver Award
Estrella Mountain Community College
2023
"Hot Art, Cool Show" - Desert Foothills Library, Cave Creek
Grant, Arizona Commission on the Arts
2022
Portland on the Park - Phoenix Desert Foothills Library - Cave Creek.
The Flinn Foundation - Phoenix
The San Diego Museum of Art Artist Guild - Spring Exhibit
2021
Walter Art Gallery - "Revealing Resonance" - Phoenix - Solo Show 20th State-Wide Exhibit Arizona Artists Guild - The Mood Room - ArtLink Arizona Commission on the Arts Grant
Creation of on-line painting course for the Arizona Commission on the Arts
2020
North Dakota Museum of Art - Art in Isolation "Abstract Distraction” - Castelli Art Space. Portland on the Park - Phoenix
2019
“Hot Art/Cool Show” - Desert Foothills Library - Cave Creek
Eighth Statewide Juried Exhibit - Arizona Artists Guild, Phoenix
“Contemporary Exhibit” - Desert Foothills Library, Cave Creek
“Artists’ Inspiration” - Herberger Theater - Phoenix
“Body of Work” - Arizona Artist Guild - Phoenix
“Color, Rhythm and Pattern” - WHAM Gallery - Surprise, AZ
2018 “Wildlife Art” - WHAM Gallery - Surprise, AZ
“Abstract Art Pop-Up” - Sonoran Arts League Art Gallery “Mixed Media Pop-Up” - Sonoran Arts League, Cave Creek
“Hot Art/Cool Show” - Desert Foothills Gallery - Cave Creek
“It’s a Dry Heat!” - Sonoran Arts League - Cave Creek
“Body of Work” - Arizona Artists Guild - Phoenix
“Interpretations” - WHAM Gallery - Surprise
2017
“Art and Science” - First Gallery - Phoenix
Art/Object Gallery - Carefree, AZ
Shemer Art Center and Museum - Phoenix
“In Partnership” - Holland Gallery of Fine Art - Scottsda
2016
Vision Gallery - Chandler, AZ
Shemer Art Center and Museum - Phoenix
West Valley Art Museum - Peoria, AZ - Honorary Mention
Easy Street Galleria - Carefree, AZ 2015
Herberger Theater Art Gallery - Phoenix
El Pedregal Art Gallery - Scottsdale
“Face Off!” - Holland Gallery of Fine Art - Scottsdale
Surprise City Hall - Surprise, AZ
“Three Women Show” - Holland Gallery of Fine Art, Scottsdale
2014
West Valley Art Center - Surprise
Shemer Art Center and Museum - Phoenix
Olney Gallery at Trinity Cathedral - Phoenix
2013 Anthem Gallery - Anthem, AZ
Selected exhibits between 2012 and 2000:
Level 9 Gallery - Cave Creek
El Pedregal Gallery - Scottsdale
The Boulders Resort - Scottsdale - Featured Artist for 7 years
Jana’s Art Gallery - Carefree
Scottsdale Center for the Arts - Scottsdale
The Jewish Historical Society - Phoenix - Honorary Mention
Arizona Fine Art Expo - Scottsdale
Arthur Norby Gallery - Cave Creek
Rocky Mountain Biennial -
Mesa Arts Center - Mesa, AZ
Helen Vohl Gallery - Wickenburg, AZ
Museum of Contemporary Art - Fort Collins, CO
Abernassi Gallery - Carefree
Watersong Gallery - Scottsdale
Plus dozens of exhibits dating back to 1981
ONE-WOMAN SHOW
First Baptist Church of Scottsdale - 2014
Casa Grande Art Museum - Casa Grande, AZ - 2013
Anthem Gallery - Anthem, AZ - 2011
Brio Fine Arts Center - Scottsdale - 2006
TWO-WOMAN SHOW
Olney Gallery - Phoenix - 2019
MonOrchid Gallery - Phoenix - 2014
Anthem Gallery - 2012, 2014
Yavapai College Art Gallery - Prescott, AZ - 2011
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Sonoran Arts League - Juried Artist
Arizona Art Alliance - Juried Artist
Arizona Artist Guild - Juried Artist
AWARDS
LightSpacetime - “All Women 2019” - Special Recognition - 2019
“Artist Inspiration” - Herberger Theater - 2019
WHAM Gallery - “Color, Rhythm and Pattern Dynamics” - Third Place
LightSpacetime - “Patterns” - Special Recognition - 2018
Arizona Artist Guild - “Body of Work, Second Place” - 2018
Bela Fidel
Represented by https://artcentralgallery.omnipresenti.com
Https:/fidelabstractoils.com
Instagram: @fidelbela
Facebook: Bela Fidel Fine Art
Twitter: @bela_fidel
480-2216947
