NINA BELL

Nina Bell is a true artist by her nature. Grew up in the picturesque city of Zagreb, Croatia, where she was exposed at an early age to the city's lively artistic scene. Her mother, Zorica Turkalj, famous Croatian artist, contributed tremendously to broadening Nina’s horizons and introducing Nina to different forms of artistic expressions. She also helped Nina develop an appreciation for culture and traveling. As a result, Nina has lived in Vienna, Milan, Paris, London Los Angeles and New York. Experiencing these incredible cities left an in-erasable mark on her personality. It gave to her perception of the world a very colorful dimension, enriching her with a great capacity to be selfless, to embrace the world with arms wide-open and to love the people around her with full intensity.

Nina's first exposure to the artistic world was through acting. Driven from an early age to become an actress, Nina landed her first TV work at the age of six.  She was developing a very successful stage career, but at the same time Bell could not resist and stay away from painting. Therefore, she divided her time between attending The University of Philosophy and Arts, and drawing alongside her mother in her studio every day. It was at that juncture of her life that she realized she would have to figure out the way to equally divide her passion and attention to both acting and painting. ”Yes, my rich theatre background has endowed me with strong chops. I had the joy of being introduced to Tom Stoppards  directions in a production of his play, The Real Thing. I also played Antigone at the illustrious Gate Theatre, in London. My other favorite roles include Mimi in Bitter Moon, Oleanna in David Mamet’s play and Celimene in Moliere’s The Misanthrope…”. After numerous lead roles in theaters all over Europe, Nina decided it was time to relocate to the United States. What she really needed was the English speaking environment where she could practice acting in English, while further perfecting and refining her English language skills. So that’s exactly what she did. Soon enough, after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she landed a recurring role as Dr. Horvat on TV drama ER, a few independent films, and recently guest starred in five episodes of the acclaimed TV series ZOS: Zone of Separation, working alongside such brilliant actors as Enrico Colantoni and Calm Meaney. A few years ago, Nina has won an award for the Best Female Performance in a Lead Role at the Geneva Film Festival, for her film Echoes.

Branko Lustig, a renowned executive film producer and two times Academy Award winner, commented on Nina’s work:”…What impresses me about Nina is her range going from lyricism to fierce strength, from touching romantic moments to grave tragic ones. She’s one arrestingly poised and articulate young woman…she is a solid professional actress with fierce focus and drive...Nina Bell knows her craft.”

Nina has once said, commenting on her own work:” The thing that separates me from other actresses is the absolute joy I get from doing my work exceptionally. Women like Cate Blanchett or Jennifer Lawrence blow your mind because their strength of identity comes from deep within. I feel that I have that same type of strength that catapults people to the stratosphere, allowing them to reach for the stars and helping them go far with their careers, reaching their full potentials, and earning people's respect and admiration.

With great talent comes great responsibility. A unique talent must be cared for and nurtured. It must not be hidden, but shared with as many people as possible. That is my greatest desire, to be an active and visible artistic talent that people will recognize and respect. That is the greatest success.”

As of recently, Nina is excited to announce to the world, that in New York City she has found her new home, amidst of this unique urban conglomerate. She is enjoying and loving everything this cosmopolitan city can offer: TV, film, the best theaters in the world and an incredible number of reputable galleries offering different types and genres of art. New York's energy, creative people, and its unique bland of different sounds, smells and colors have an invigorating effect on Nina's imagination. This unique combination of influences that merge together on this island called Manhattan is exactly what Nina needs for the future development of her career. Currently, she is working on four projects: her next Solo Exhibit, titled “Just Like That” , her first Monodrama, written specifically for her by playwright and novelist, Nada Far, titled “ Holding On…” and, just recently got cast in a lead role, as Laura Lembach,  in an upcoming Off Broadway production of "In Agony", a play by the acclaimed Croatian novelist and playwright, Miroslav Krleza, to be directed by Marcy Arlin and in a supporting role in the upcoming feature film "The Death of Angelique Vitry ", to be directed by Eric Till.
At the same time Nina is looking forward to see what the future holds for her and is embracing this new, adventurous chapter of her life with the feeling of excitement and enthusiasm.

Being in New York, the art capital of the world, and experiencing the lively artistic scene first hand, brought Nina's alter ego: Nina The Painter, back to the surface and once again, she is ready to plunge herself full time into painting. She is fully aware that it is going to be a demanding task to find that peaceful place, become a recluse and let her "inner painter" take her on a spiritual journey to an unknown destination, but she is ready to tackle that challenge with the same zest, like she did so many times before. She is about to reinvent herself yet once again… After all, she knew that painting was her calling in life even as a 5 year old girl, when she was taking first steps around her mother's atelier, learning, observing and assimilating the basics of drawing and painting. Nina knew that being brave pays off, so that attitude won her a very prestigious award in Japan during her high school days. She heard that familiar inner voice once again when she started working with Artist / Professor Ken Waterstreet in Sacramento and San Francisco, and decided to follow her impulse and listen to her instincts…

Her 2007 exhibition "Dialogues", at the Gallery Turkalj, showed Nina's artworks in their full opulence and artist's broad range. Following this successful debut, between 2010-2013, she had few more successful solo exhibits: "Getting In Touch…With Nina Bell" , in one of the Zagreb's most reputable galleries, Gallery Stancic, "Love at first sight" at The Likum Gallery and "Nina Bell and The City" at the Art Net Gallery.

Presented romantically lyrical self-portraits and expressionist paintings set in contemporary settings such as hyper urban cities, showed all of the complexities of Nina's personality. She offered a verity of different responses from a modern woman to all of the challenges of the modern life. They ranged from pensive, distant and lonely Nina to romantic, seductive and tender Nina, full of expectations from the life ahead of her.

Nudes are sensual, seductive and suggestive but delicate and tasteful. Faces showed little detail or expression, while emotions inundated the viewer. Although the spectrum in Nina's artworks is minimalist and often limited to very few tones, she still provokes emotional response from the viewer with her bold choices of color rather than detail. Her use of color suggests the mood. Her art is dynamic and static at the same time, it is full of contrasts. Characters are either actively engaged with each other or by themselves, communicative or silent. Small and flat colored areas are juxtaposed with the monochromatic, black and white areas creating a nice equilibrium.

She is equally versed in acrylic, oil or watercolor and does not seem to be limited by the usage of different mediums. Nina creates a very fine balance between the opposites. She succeeds in reconciling dichotomies, being at the same time lyrical and erotic, hedonistic and ascetic. Whether showing swirling dancing couples, pensive anonymous figures or seductive nudes, Nina pulls us in and makes us feel as if she is letting us in on a secret, by revealing this secret passage to her intimate world. By doing so she makes us feel special. Isn't that exactly what we all want?

Having decided to establish her home in New York City, Nina gets inspired by it on daily basis. She opened up herself to the City's abundant contrasts and is currently working on her 6th solo exhibit. It will be a tribute to this magnificent city and its people, translated through the abstract expressionist vocabulary.

We are all eagerly awaiting and are ready to embrace Nina's newest visions, while she invites us to accompany her on a wonderful journey to the epicenter of the world –
- New York City.