Bio
Alexandra Bell (b. 1983) is an interdisciplinary artist who investigates the complexities of narrative production, consumption, and perception. Utilizing various media, she deconstructs language and imagery to explore the tension between marginal experiences and dominant histories. Through investigative research, she considers the ways media frameworks control how narratives involving Black communities are depicted and in turn disseminated under the aegis of journalistic “objectivity.”
She considers a range of media, such as dictionaries, style guides, early broadsides, and broadcast news as central to the formation of collective identities. She accumulates news records, mines editorial databases, and restructures textually and visually produced narratives to control the elasticity of language and image. By physically outlining and revising editorial frameworks, she attempts to make visible the white racial sovereignty of today’s most revered institutions and use visual art to liberate marginalized communities from racist media fabrications.
She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award (2018), Catchlight Fellowship (2019), Soros Equality Fellowship (2019), Sarah Arison Artadia Award (2020), and a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University (2022).
Her work has been exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Charlie James Gallery, MoMA PS1, Whitney Museum of American Art, MCA Chicago, Spencer Museum of Art, MFA Boston, and We Buy Gold.
She received her B.A. in Humanities from University of Chicago and an M.S. from Columbia University’s School of Journalism.