Cube

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Cube

1966
Sculpture
Vacuum-coated glass
12 1/8 × 12 1/8 × 12 1/8 in. (30.8 × 30.8 × 30.8 cm)
Gift of the Frederick R. Weisman Company (M.82.112.2)
Not currently on public view

Label

Larry Bell considers the surfaces of his works to be paramount, and it was the surface properties of glass—simultaneously hard, transparent, and reflective—that attracted him to the material....
Larry Bell considers the surfaces of his works to be paramount, and it was the surface properties of glass—simultaneously hard, transparent, and reflective—that attracted him to the material. He began vacuum coating glass in 1962, using a process that deposits a thin film of vaporized material on the surface. This coating modifies how the glass absorbs, reflects, and transmits light, and allows Bell to create infinite variations in the color, transparency, and reflectivity of his glass works. Vacuum-coated sculptures, including Cube, form the core of Bell’s practice. He continues to work with vacuum coatings today, at different scales and with materials that now include paper and polyester film in addition to glass.

Exhibition label: Light, Space, Surface: Works from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2021, Carol S. Eliel.
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Bibliography

  • Eliel, Carol, editor. Light, Space, Surface: Art from Southern California. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books, 2021.
  • Phil Freshman. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Report, July 1, 1981-June 30, 1983. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984.
  • Eliel, Carol, editor. Light, Space, Surface: Art from Southern California. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books, 2021.
  • Phil Freshman. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Report, July 1, 1981-June 30, 1983. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984.
  • Barron, Stephanie, S. Bernstein and I. S. Fort, with essays by Stephanie Barron, Sherri Bernstein, M. Dear, Howard N. Fox and Richard Rodriguez.  Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Berkeley:  University of California Press, Berkeley, 2000.

    View this publication in LACMA's Reading Room

  • Zelevansky, Lynn, V. L. Hillings, M. Peternák, B. LaBelle, P. Frank, I. Katzenstein, A. Le Blanc.  Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form, 1940s-70s.  Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004.
  • Fox, Howard and Robertson, Bruce   Glass: Material Matters. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2006.
  • Noriega, Chon A., Mari Carmen Ramírez, and Pilar Tompkins Rivas. Home--So Different, So Appealing. Los Angeles: UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2017.
  • Jim Isermann. Santa Fe, NM: Radius Books, 2021.
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