Bella Feldman makes extraordinary objects - objects that rivet your attention by their physical appearance; the weight, mass, volume, material, posture, balance, and motion immediately access a bodily response. Then your mind, your sense of poetry, human imagination, and memory tune in and hold you there. Bella's works are intended to keep and enlarge their meaning over time; their layered imageries shift and evolve with the viewer's own moods and experiences.

The materials for her sculptures are chosen not only for structural reasons but also for the references they embody.

Although the objects are beautiful, they contain an element of threat and of irony. They are what the critic Harold Rosenberg aptly called "anxious objects."

They are made in anxious times.

STATEMENT: War Toys

As a means for creating an unsettling tension in a sculpture, I use shifts and inconsistencies of scale and movement. I produce "anxious objects." It seems to me an approach to content that most expresses the reality of our lives. Humor laces my work; like my ghetto forebears, I need to laugh at the dark.

Since 1992, two series of work, both involving movement and interaction, have occupied me. The first, inspired by the Gulf War and my own concerns, is "War Toys". These are a flock of comic, ferocious, fantastic machines with wheels and clumsy movement. I made them small-ankle to knee high-to give the viewer an opportunity for Olympian detachment. On the other hand, they are pet-size, seductively interesting, and inviting to play with.

The new War Toy Redux series continues the concerns of the original "War Toys". These toys in glass and metal reference bio-terror. As in the earlier series, these sculptures intend to please and provoke and to address war itself as an ongoing preoccupation.

I believe weapons have a seductive appeal to our flawed species…but whatever biological necessity this fascination with aggression has for the species, it has long ago gone obsolete. I hope these constructions can help us face our absurd behavior and create some perspective.

CV 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2008    Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID. November

2007    Sculpture/Site, San Francisco, CA

1. Buschlen Mowatt, Palm Desert, CA
   

2006    Sculpture/Site, San Francisco, CA

1. Habatat Gallery, Chicago, IL, Glass Engravings
   

2004    Chicago Habatat Gallery, Chicago, IL

1. Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
   

2. Crafts and Cultural Arts Gallery, California State Building, Oakland, CA
   

2003    Museum of Folk Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA, War Toys Redux

1. Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, War Toys Redux
   

2002    Tucson Museum, Tucson, AZ

1. Habatat Chicago, Chicago. IL
   

2. Buschlen Mowatt, Palm Desert, CA
   

3. Habatat Pontiac, Pontiac, MI
   

2001    Habatat Chicago, Chicago. IL

2000    Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1999    Habatat Chicago, Chicago. IL

1998    D. P. Fong, San Jose, CA

1. Pat Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
   

1997    Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, New Work

1996    Fresno Art Museum (Distinguished Woman Artist of 1996), Fresno, CA

1. Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
   

2. Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco, CA
   

1995    Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1. Decompression Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
   

1994    Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI, War Toy Installation

1993    Shidoni Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1. Gwenda Jay Gallery, Chicago, IL
   

2. Downey Museum, Downey, CA
   

3. St. Mary's College, Moraga, CA
   

1992    California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA

1. Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
   

2. Oakland Museum, Downtown Sculpture Court, Oakland. CA
   

1991    Zaks Gallery, Chicago, IL

1. SPACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
   

1989    Zaks Gallery, Chicago, IL

1. San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
   

1988    Foxley Leach Gallery, Washington, DC

1. SPACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
   

1987    Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IL,

1. Bella Feldman, Steel Sculpture (funded by Chicago Arts Council)
   

2. SPACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
   

1984    University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, Fiber Forms of Bella Feldman

1. Monterey Peninsula Museum, Monterey, CA, Sculpture
   

1983    University of Denver, Denver, CO, Sculpture by Bella Feldman

1982    San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, Bella T. Feldman/Sculpture

1980    Memorial Union Art Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA, Spine Series

1976    Mills College Art Gallery, Oakland, CA

1975    Gallerie Bernard Letu, Geneva, Switzerland, Bella: Sculptures

1. University of California at Santa Barbara, CA, Installation Metamorphosis
   

1973    San Jose State University, San Jose, CA. Metamorphosis

Group Exhibitions    (*indicates curator)

2009    Melissa Morgan Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, estro-GEN

2008    Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, CA, Artists of Invention: 100 years CCA

2007    Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA

2006    Fresno Art Museum and Art Center, Fresno, CA,

1. 18 Profiles, Distinguished Women Artists of California.
   

2. Whitney Biennial 2006, Peace Tower, New York, NY
   

2005    Habatat Chicago, Chicago, IL

1. Sculpture Site Gallery, San Francisco, CA
   

2004    Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, CA, Toys

2001    Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA, Being There: 45 Artists

1996    Richmond Art Center, Generations: The Lineage of Influence in the Bay Area, Richmond, CA

1994    Spertus Museum, Chicago, IL, Menorah Exhibit

1. Alternative Museum, New York, NY, National Showcase
   

1993    Rockford Museum, Rockford, IL, War Toy Installation

1992    Gallery of Contemporary Art, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO. Crossovers

1991    Oakland Museum, Downtown Sculpture Court, Inaugural Exhibition. Phil Linhares*

1989    Baeker Galerie, Cologne, Germany, Five California Artists

1988    Maryland Art Institute, Baltimore, MD, Tangents: Seven Artists, Mary Jane Jacob*

1. Traveling to Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; Cleveland Art Institute, Cleveland, OH
   

1986    Fresno Art Museum and Art Center, Fresno, CA, Survey of California Women Artists 1945 Present. Joyce Aiken*

1985    San Francisco Airport Commission, San Francisco, CA, Menagerie-Contemporary Animal Images

1. Focus Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland, Six Artistes of the Biennale
   

2. Musée des Beaux Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, Fibre/Sculpture Biennale
   

1984    Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX, The Presence of Light, Betty Park*, Dominique Mazaud*

1. Twining Gallery, New York, NY, Art in Craft Media, Mildred Constantine*
   

2. John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI, Fiber Cross Currents
   

1983    Musée des Beaux Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, Fibre/Espace; Tapisserie Biennale

1. Japan Traveling Exhibit, Art and/or Craft USA: 1982 Japan, Sherri Warner*
   

1982    Walnut Creek Art Center, Walnut Creek, CA, Between the Lines: Lightweight Sculpture

1. Visual Art Center of Alaska, Anchorage, AK, National Sculpture Invitational, (Traveled to Fairbanks and Juneau), 1978-80 Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit, Paper as Medium, Jane Farmer*
   

1976    SPACE Gallery, Los Angeles. Death Show, Ed Lau*

1. Santa Barbara Museum, Santa Barbara, CA, The Handmade Paper Object, Richard Kubiak* (traveled until 1982)
   

2. Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco, CA, The Multiple Image
   

1975    Athol McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, Paper Sculpture

1974    Womanspace, Los Angeles, CA. Taboo Show

Awards

2005    Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Distinguished Artist Award

2004    Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA, Distinguished Artist Award

1996    Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA, Distinguished Woman Artist

1995    Florsheim Art Grant

1994    California Arts Council Grant

1. Spertus Museum Award
   

1986    National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artist's Fellowship (major award)

1975    E. L. Cabot Trust Fund at Harvard University (travel award)

Collections

Di Rosa Collection, Napa, CA

Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA

University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, C

Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, U

MH de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

Architectural Commissions

Sculpture Fountain, Federal Home Loan Bank Lobby, 600 California Street, San Francisco

Sculpture Fountain, Barclay Simpson Garden, Orinda, CA ~ Ron Lutsko, Landscape Architect

Mosaic Tile Facade, Crystal Elementary School, Suisun City, CA ~ Van Bourg, Architect

Mosaic Panel, Medical Building, Redding, CA ~ Burns Cadwalader, Architect

Panels for Garden Wall, IBM, San Jose, CA ~ John Bolles, Architect

Mosaic Mural, Executive Office, Lovable Brassiere Co., Atlanta, GA

Relief, Temple Rodef Sholom, San Rafael, CA ~ Marquis & Stoller, Architects

Relief, City Hall, Mountain View, CA ~ George Dueker, Architect

Relief, Science & Industrial Arts Building, Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, Berkeley, CA, Aitkin & Collin, Architects

Sculptures, Marina Vista Plaza, Vallejo, CA and Potrero Project, Richmond, CA ~ Royston, Hanamoto & Mayes, Landscape Architects

Sculpture, Hydronautics, Inc., Washington, DC suburb James Hilleary Associates, Architects

Group of Sculptures, Newport Shopping Center, Newport, CA ~ Sasaki, Walker, Landscape Architects.

Published

2008    Bella, Bella, a Documentary Film by Elizabeth Sher

2006    Eighteen Profiles, Distinguished Women Artists of California, Fresno Art Museum

1. Bella Feldman, (cover story) Artist Blacksmith, UK Summer 2006
   

2001    Bella-Works in Glass and Mixed Media

1996    Bella: Survey of Sculpture, 1974-1996, catalogue for Fresno Art Museum

1. Distinguished Woman Artist of 1996 exhibit.
   

1992    Leonardo Theme Publication #8, Women, Art and Technology.

1984    Leonardo, Journal of the International Society of Arts, Sciences and Technology,

1. Dec-Jan Issue. A View of Evolution Expressed in Sculpture: A Reflection of Nuclear Angst.
   

1983    African Arts, University of California Press, Los Angeles, Fall Issue.

1. The So Cattle Sculpture of Uganda, co-authored with Dr. Ross Coates.
   

Bibliography

1996    Bella: Survey of Sculpture, 1974-1996, catalogue for Fresno Art Museum Distinguished Woman Artist of 1996

1. exhibition.
   

1991    Blasier, Paula. Profile: An Interview, CITY LIFE.

1987    International Who's Who of Business and Professional Women, International Biographical Centre, Cambridge,

1. England.
   

2. Possibility and Paradox in Fiber Art, The Museum of California, The Oakland Museum, Sept.-Oct. 1987.  
   

1986    Matson Jones, Virginia. Contemporary American Women Sculptors, Oryx Press, Phoenix, AZ.

1. Singer, Elizabeth. Sculpture of Bella Feldman, Textic Kunst, Hannover, Germany, Heft 2 3.
   

1984    Scarborough, Jessica. Vision of Bella Feldman, FIBER ARTS MAGAZINE.

1. Frym, Gloria. Editor, Second Stories, CHRONICLE BOOKS.
   

1974    Erickson, Barbara. BERKELEY GAZETTE, Feature article.

Catalogues

2001    Bella, Works in Glass and Mixed Media

1996    Distinguished Woman Artist of 1996, catalogue for Fresno Art Museum

1992    War Toys, An Installation. Traveling.

1985    Fibre/Sculpture, Muse'e de Beaux Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland

1983    Fibre/Espace, Muse'e de Beaux Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland

1982    Art and/or Craft, USA: Japan

1. Center for the Visual Arts, Sculpture Catalogue, Oakland, CA
   

2. Atlantic Coast/Pacific Coast, 75th Anniversary Exhibit, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
   

1976    The Handmade Paper Object, Santa Barbara Museum, Santa Barbara, CA

Selected Reviews Since 1982

Roth, David. Bella Feldman at Sculpturesite Gallery, ARTWEEK, November 2006

Farr, Sheila. War Toys: Weapons of Mass Devotion, SEATTLE TIMES, July 9, 2004.

Whitney, Kathleen. Feldman at Habatat Gallery, WORLD SCULPTURE NEWS Summer, 2000.

Whitney, Kathleen. Bella Feldman-Remarkable Pieces of Apparatus, SCULPTURE MAGAZINE, June 2000.

Ollman, Leah. Metaphoric Richness in Steel and Glass, LOS ANGELES TIMES, June 1999.

Dalkey, Victoria. Imagination Highlights Sculpture, SACRAMENTO BEE, May 1999.

Bella Feldman at d.p. Fong, ARTWEEK, November 1998.

Porges, Maria. Bella Feldman, SCULPTURE MAGAZINE, October 1998.

Guy Keeler, Heavy Mettle, FRESNO BEE, September 22, 1996.

Baker, Kenneth. Feldman's Moving Sculpture Exhibit, SAN FRANCISCO CRONICLE, March 7, 1996.

Santiago, Chiori , Exploring the Dark Side, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, July 21, 1996.

Nilsen, Richard. Inventive Artworks are Scary, Funny, ARIZONA REPUBLIC, May 21, 1995.

Rinheart, Betty. Toying with Our Emotions, ARIZONA NEW TIMES, April 20~26, 1995.

Review of Exhibit for Center for Creative Studies, SCULPTURE MAGAZINE, December 1994.

Colby, Joy Hakanson. Sculptor's War Toys Make a Play for Peace, DETROIT NEWS, March 11, 1994.

Miro, Marsha. Sculptor Uses Ridicule to Stress War's Folly, DETROIT FREE PRESS, March 13, 1994.

Lebzelter, Bill. Solidity is Always Undermined in the Work of Bella Feldman, PASATIEMPO, Santa Fe, May 7, 1993.

Baker, Kenneth. Scavenged Material Becomes Sculpture, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, September 15, 1992.

Cohn, Terri. Bella Feldman, ARTWEEK, January 9, 1992.

Suvan Geer, Form that Uses Movement as an Idea and Reality, LOS ANGELES TIMES, April 18, 1991.

Baker, Kenneth. Summer Surprises, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, August 26, 1989.

Anderson, Roger. Murmurs of the Art, EAST BAY EXPRESS, May 27, 1988.

Baker, Kenneth. Home Grown Sculpture, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, March 31, 1988.

Donohue, Melinda. LOS ANGELES TIMES, March 4, 1988.

Baker, Kenneth. New Works of Art in Search of a Context, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, May 2, 1987.

Gardner, Colin. LOS ANGELES TIMES, January 23, 1987.

Jordan, Jim. A Vocabulary of Subtle Aggressions, ARTWEEK, November 1984

Bornstein, Anne. Sculpture Recreates Our Link to Nature, DAILY CALIFORNIAN, October 26, 1984

Scarborough, Jessica. Bella Tabak Feldman, Recent Sculpture FIBER ARTS MAGAZINE, March ~ April 1983.

Meisel, Alan R. From the San Francisco Bay Area, CRAFT INTERNATIONAL, January 1983.

Boettger, Suzaan. Best of 1982, BAY GUARDIAN, December 1982.

Boettger, Suzaan. Potent Allusions, ARTWEEK, October 1982.

Curtis, Cathy. Lightweight Sculpture Comes of Age, ARTWEEK, February 1982.

Burkhart, Dorothy. Seethrough Sculpture Reshapes Our Ideas About Space and Mass, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, September 1982.

Academic

Teaching Positions

1965-2001    Professor of Sculpture, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.

1996, and

1987-1989    1996 Chair, Sculpture Department, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.

1987            Consultant, African Nomadic Art Exhibit, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution,

1.         Washington, D44C.
   

1975-1979    Graduate Director, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.

1972-1975    Founder, Sculpture Program, Santa Rosa Jr. College, Santa Rosa.

1968-1970    Lecturer, Fine Art School, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

1961            Lecturer, University of California, Extension Division

Guest Artist

2004    Visiting Artist, California State University, San Jose

2003    Visiting Artist, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA

1998    Visiting Artist, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK.

1997    Visiting Artist, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.

1994    Visiting Artist, Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI.

1992    Visiting Artist, California Polytechnic Institute at San Luis Obispo.

1990    Cultural Specialist for the U.S. Information Service, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

1989    Lecture tour, three Japanese art colleges.

1986    Visiting artist, Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, IL.

1. Visiting artist, Montclair State College, Montclair, NJ.
   

2. Visiting artist, California State University at Humboldt, Arcada, CA.
   

1985    Visiting artist, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA.

1984    Visiting artist, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.

1983    Visiting artist, University of Hawaii of Manoa, Honolulu, HI.

1982    Sculpture workshop for International Sculpture Conference, Mills College, Oakland, CA.

1981    Visiting artist, Visual Arts Center, Anchorage, AK.

1980    Visiting artist, Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Portland, OR.

1979    Visiting artist, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.

1975    Visiting artist, Sonoma State University, Cotati, CA.

1974    Visiting artist, University of Washington, Pullman, WA.

Juror

2003    Colorado Arts Council, Denver CO

2002    Fairbanks Art Association, Fairbanks, AK

1997    Pacific Rim Sculptors, San Francisco, CA

1995    San Francisco Women Artists, San Francisco, CA

1989    National Women's Art, Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, CA

1987    State Grants to Artists, State of Rhode Island

1984    Annual Juried Exhibition, San Mateo Art Association, CA

1982    Fiber Art, Iowa City, IA

1967    California State Fair, CA

Education

M. A., San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

B. A., Queens College, Queens, NY

Diploma, H. S. of Music and Art, New York, NY