The Blue Gate

The Blue Gate (2021), from Larry Bell’s Deconstructed Cube series, encompasses the inventive and hypnotic elements of the artist’s most recent large-scale works. In The Blue Gate, Bell presents two cubes, one within the other; he leaves a wedge-shaped aperture in the outer element, encouraging the viewer to experience the interplay of light and shadow while weaving in, out, and around the walls, thus catching their reflection. The audience’s comprehension of the work is dependent on the structure’s apparently shifting shape. While arranging the panels, Bell considers the naturally-shifting light conditions that modify the sculpture’s look as varied ratios of light reflect and transmit. Through changes in light and reflection, the cube seems to expand and contract; from one aspect, it is tightly enclosed; from another, it is expansively open, producing a sensation of movement that compliments the medium’s multiplicity. The Blue Gate examines perception, layering, and opacity, while reacting to the dynamics of the space it occupies.