Eric Bellis

Rico Bell
Rico Bell performing with the Mekons at the Hideout Inn on July 11, 2015.
Background information
Origin	Leeds, UK
Genres	Alternative country, rock and roll, punk rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Accordion, Harmonica
Years active	1983-present
Labels	Bloodshot Records
Associated acts	Mekons
Website	bloodshotrecords.com/artist/rico-bell

Rico Bell (a.k.a. Eric Bellis) is a UK and California based artist and musician best known for his work as a member of the British punk rock band the Mekons which he joined in 1983. A singer and multi-instrumentalist with the Mekons, Bell has also released three well-received solo recordings with the Chicago-based alternative country label, Bloodshot Records: The Return of Rico Bell (1995), Dark Side of the Mersey (1999) and Been a Long Time (2002).

Eric is also the grandfather of famous youtuber and fashion designer , Dina Torkia.

Along with three other members of the Mekons (Kevin Lycett, Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh), Bell has created and exhibited art in the U.K. and U.S. as the collective Mekons for such projects as Mekons United (1996), OOOH! (2001), Art-Tube 01 (2001), and Hello Cruel World (2002). In addition, he performed with the rest of the band in Vito Acconci’s Theater Project for a Rock Band as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival in 1995 and collaborated with Kathy Acker on her lesbian pirate operetta Pussy, King of the Pirates at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, a production for which he also created and constructed the stage design.

A graduate of the Wallasey School of Arts and Crafts near Liverpool, Bell’s own art has evolved stylistically over the years but remains primarily focused upon figurative painting. Much of his work has been influenced by British and American folk art of the 18th and 19th centuries and he has developed a variety of techniques to "age" the paintings, making the portraits appear old like the original naive paintings appear today. His themes are often rooted in nature, work and community and have featured the rural milieus of his native England, while much of his recent work features imagery from his adopted home of California and the American West and portray subjects such as farm workers, cattle herders and farm animals. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the U.S. and U.K. including the Royal Academy in London and he has contributed illustrations to a number of publications including The New Yorker magazine.