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Artist

SUZANNE JACKSON

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Artist

SUZANNE JACKSON

SUZANNE JACKSON - Artists - Ortuzar Projects

Biography

Suzanne Jackson (b. 1944, St. Louis) first moved westward with her parents to San Francisco, after which the family continued north to Yukon Territory. She came of age in the remote natural environment of pre-statehood Alaska, later returning to the Bay Area to study painting and theater at San Francisco State University, and dance at the Pacific Ballet. She settled in Echo Park in 1967, where she worked as an artist and teacher, and attended Charles White’s drawing class at Otis Art Institute. Jackson engaged a community of artist peers—including David Hammons, Timothy Washington, Alonzo Davis, Dan Concholar, Senga Nengudi, George Evans, Gloria Bohanon, Betye Saar, and Emory Douglas—through Gallery 32, which she ran from her studio in the Granada Buildings near McArthur Park from 1969 to 1970. In a career spanning more than five decades, Jackson has worked experimentally across genres including drawing, painting, printmaking, bookmaking, poetry, dance, theater and costume design. In her lyrical work from the 1960s and 70s, figures and recurring symbols are built up through multiple layers of acrylic wash on canvas, creating ethereal paintings in which any firm distinction between depicted elements is dissolved. Built up through layers of pure acrylic, Jackson’s recent “anti-canvases” are partially structured with netting, rods, and paper fragments, and strewn with cast off color and other prosaic elements: peanut shells, bamboo, bells, loquat seeds, leather string. The artist’s handmade gestural impressions—pinching, crimping, and pleating—occur within a material transparency that lends each composition a uniquely lyrical and luminous dimensionality.

Jackson works in Savannah, Georgia, where she has lived since 1996. She received an MFA in theatre design from Yale University 1990, and is a recipient of the Jacob Lawrence Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters (2022), an Anonymous Was A Woman grant (2021), NYFA Murray Reich Distinguished Artist Award (2020), and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant (2019). Forthcoming exhibitions include Suzanne Jackson: Listen’ N Home, The Arts Club of Chicago (2022); Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces, the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2022); Joan Didion: What She Means, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2022); and the Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art, Knoxville Museum of Art (2023). Recent solo and survey exhibitions include Suzanne Jackson: Five Decades, Jepson Center/Telfair Museums, Savannah (2019); Life Model: Charles White and His Students, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2019); West by Midwest, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2018–19); Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, Brooklyn Museum, New York and the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (2018–20); Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, MoMA PS1, New York, and Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts (2011–13); Gallery 32 & Its Circle, Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles (2009). Her work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; California African American Museum, Los Angeles; the Baltimore Museum of Art; and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others. She is represented by Ortuzar Projects, New York.

Suzanne Jackson Website

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Works

Works Thumbnails
Suzanne Jackson, Triplical Communications, 1969

Suzanne Jackson, Triplical Communications, 1969

Suzanne Jackson, The American Sampler, 1972

Suzanne Jackson, The American Sampler, 1972

Suzanne Jackson, In A Black Man's Garden, 1973

Suzanne Jackson, In A Black Man's Garden, 1973

Suzanne Jackson, Talk, 1976

Suzanne Jackson, Talk, 1976

Suzanne Jackson, Wind and Water, 1975

Suzanne Jackson, Wind and Water, 1975

Suzanne Jackson, Yellow/Fall, 1978

Suzanne Jackson, Yellow/Fall, 1978

Suzanne Jackson, Ma-Yaa, 2994-98

Suzanne Jackson, Ma-Yaa, 2994-98

Suzanne Jackson, Lizzie and Me with Friends, 2005

Suzanne Jackson, Lizzie and Me with Friends, 2005

Suzanne Jackson, Blues Garden + Track/Back-Sea, 2010

Suzanne Jackson, Blues Garden + Track/Back-Sea, 2010

Suzanne Jackson, a history drawing-cracked wall, 2016-19

Suzanne Jackson, a history drawing-cracked wall, 2016-19

Suzanne Jackson, oldblueshanging, while she waits, 2017

Suzanne Jackson, oldblueshanging, while she waits, 2017

Suzanne Jackson, Alice playing harp, her veils in the wind, 2017

Suzanne Jackson, Alice playing harp, her veils in the wind, 2017

Suzanne Jackson, Crossing Ebenzer, 2017

Suzanne Jackson, Crossing Ebenzer, 2017

Suzanne Jackson, Hers and His, 2018

Suzanne Jackson, Hers and His, 2018

Suzanne Jackson, Rag-to-Wobble, 2020

Suzanne Jackson, Rag-to-Wobble, 2020

Suzanne Jackson, pieces of what, - we thought before, 2021

Suzanne Jackson, pieces of what, - we thought before, 2021

Suzanne Jackson, Triplical Communications, 1969
Suzanne Jackson, The American Sampler, 1972
Suzanne Jackson, In A Black Man's Garden, 1973
Suzanne Jackson, Talk, 1976
Suzanne Jackson, Wind and Water, 1975
Suzanne Jackson, Yellow/Fall, 1978
Suzanne Jackson, Ma-Yaa, 2994-98
Suzanne Jackson, Lizzie and Me with Friends, 2005
Suzanne Jackson, Blues Garden + Track/Back-Sea, 2010
Suzanne Jackson, a history drawing-cracked wall, 2016-19
Suzanne Jackson, oldblueshanging, while she waits, 2017
Suzanne Jackson, Alice playing harp, her veils in the wind, 2017
Suzanne Jackson, Crossing Ebenzer, 2017
Suzanne Jackson, Hers and His, 2018
Suzanne Jackson, Rag-to-Wobble, 2020
Suzanne Jackson, pieces of what, - we thought before, 2021

Videos

Suzanne Jackson in Conversation with Giampoalo Bianconi, Associate Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago | Society for Contemporary Art, Chicago

Exhibitions

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby: The Sapphire Show
Exhibition
You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby: The Sapphire Show
Gloria Bohanon, Suzanne Jackson, Betye Saar, Senga Nengudi, Yvonne Cole Meo, Eileen Nelson June 8 – July 31, 2021
Suzanne Jackson
Exhibition
Suzanne Jackson
News! November 20, 2019 – January 25, 2020

Art Fairs

Frieze Masters 2022
Art Fair
Frieze Masters 2022
Cynthia Hawkins, Suzanne Jackson, June Leaf October 12 – 16, 2022
Frieze Los Angeles 2022
Art Fair
Frieze Los Angeles 2022
Suzanne Jackson February 17 – 20, 2022

Press

News

LISTEN' N HOME REVIEWED IN HYPERALLERGIC

Hints of Memory in Layers of Paint by Susannah Papish

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News

LISTEN' N HOME REVIEWED IN NEWCITY ART

The Music of Life: Suzanne Jackson’s Listen’ N Home at The Arts Club of Chicago

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News

Suzanne Jackson Featured in The Brooklyn Rail

Suzanne Jackson with Lilly Wei

Fall 2022

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON IN LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS

What is L.A. Art? by Perwana Nazif

Spring 2022

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON RECEIVES 2022 JACOB LAWRENCE AWARD IN ART

ADMINISTERED BY THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS

4/19/2022

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON, CARRIE MAE WEEMS, KARA WALKER, RALPH LEMON, ET AL. ON FAITH RINGGOLD IN INTERVIEW MAGAZINE

ASK ME ANYTHING: HOW AND FROM WHERE DO YOU LOOK AT THE STARS?

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON FEATURED IN ARTSY

THE 10 BEST BOOTHS FEATURED AT FRIEZE LOS ANGELES 2022 BY CATHLEEN WAGLEY

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON AT FRIEZE LA FEATURED IN ARTNEWS

BY MAXIMILÍANO DURÓN

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON & 2021 FCA BENEFIT FEATURED IN VOGUE

106 ARTISTS UNITE FOR A COMMON CAUSE BY MARLEY MARIUS

December 10, 2021

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON INCLUDED IN 17TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION TO BENEFIT THE FOUNDATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS

Curated by Sonia Louise Davis at Greene Naftali Gallery

December 9, 2021

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News

Suzanne Jackson named 2021 Anonymous Was a Woman Awardee

Anonymous Was a Woman Names 2021 Winners, Expands Award Program by Tessa Solomon

November 9, 2021

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News

"The Negro Artist's Dilemma" Revisited

Suzanne Jackson in conversation with Lorraine O’Grady and Shinique Smith on the legacy of Romare Bearden’s 1946 essay, for the Gibbes Museum of Art

November 17, 2021

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON INTERVIEWED BY BARBARA MCCULLOUGH IN BOMB MAGAZINE

Fall 2021

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News

Suzanne Jackson receives the 2021 Murray Reich Distinguished Artist Award

Administered by New York Foundation for the Arts

September 14, 2021

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News

You've Come a Long Way, Baby featured in Culture Type

Black Female Artists Who Got Their Start in 1960s and 70s are Focus of Two Group Exhibitions in New York by Victoria L. Valentine

July 31, 2021

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News

You've Come a Long Way, Baby reviewed in Art in America

ASSEMBLAGE AS MEDIUM AND METHOD: “YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY: THE SAPPHIRE SHOW” AT ORTUZAR PROJECTS by Sinclair Spratley

July 30, 2021

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News

You've Come A Long Way, Baby reviewed in Hyperallergic

A Landmark Show of Black Women Artists Gets a Second Life by Alexandra M. Thomas

July 27, 2021

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News

You've Come A Long Way, Baby highlighted in Hyperallergic

Your Concise New York Art Guide for July 2021 by Dessane Lopez Cassell and Cassie Packard

July 13, 2021

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News

You've Come A Long Way, Baby Reviewed in The Brooklyn Rail

You've Come A Long Way, Baby: The Sapphire Show by Zoë Hopkins

July 13, 2021

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News

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY REVIEWED IN THE NEW YORKER

by Andrea K. Scott

July 5, 2021

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News

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY FEATURED ON THE NEW YORKER’S CULTURE DESK

Rediscovering a Revolutionary Gallery Show of Black Women’s Art by Andrea K. Scott

July 3, 2021

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News

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby featured in The New York Times

A Rare Spotlight on Black Women's Art Still Shines After 51 years By Ted Loos

June 16, 2021

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News

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby Previewed in The Financial Times

By Melanie Gerlis

June 10, 2021

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News

Mary Lovelace O’Neal interviewed by Suzanne Jackson in Bomb magazine

Winter 2020

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON’S GALLERY 32 FEATURED IN FRIEZE MAGAZINE

“Gallery Garden Garage”: A dossier on the history of domestic exhibition spaces in Los Angeles

January/February 2021

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News

Suzanne Jackson included in "Winterfest" at the Aspen Art Museum

Curated by Saim Demircan in collaboration with Veit Laurent Kurz

December 18, 2020

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News

Suzanne Jackson included in "Stars of Everything”

Dial World, Part II: a group exhibition at David Lewis Gallery

October 29, 2020

News

Suzanne Jackson in Artsy

The Artsy Vanguard 2020

September 20, 2020

News

Suzanne Jackson in T Magazine

THE ARTISTS BY M. H. MILLER, FROM THE 2020 CULTURE ISSUE: WE ARE FAMILY

April 13, 2020

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON MENTIONED IN ARTNET NEWS

ART COLLECTOR PAMELA JOYNER INTERVIEWED BY NATE FREEMAN

April 20, 2020

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News

Suzanne Jackson in Art in America

Suzanne Jackson's Ethereal Acrylic Hangings Connect Autobiography and Abstraction by Glenn Adamson

February 17, 2020

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News

Suzanne Jackson reviewed in The New York Times

What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week by Will Heinrich

January 9, 2020

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News

Walkthrough of Suzanne Jackson: NEWS! with Ashley James and the artist

January 16, 2020 at 7 pm


 

News

SUZANNE JACKSON REVIEWED IN THE NEW YORKER

SUZANNE JACKSON BY JOHANNA FATEMAN

January 1, 2020

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News

Suzanne Jackson interviewed in Artnet News

'We Had to Do It For Ourselves': Legendary Gallerist and Artist Suzanne Jackson on Why the Art World Has Never Gotten Her Story Right by Melissa Smith

November 20, 2019

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News

SUZANNE JACKSON INTERVIEWED IN T: THE NEW YORK TIMES STYLE MAGAZINE

An Artist Who Makes Paintings Without a Canvas by Julia Felsenthal

November 19, 2019

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News

Suzanne Jackson featured in Frieze

The Paradoxes of Gallerist and Artist Suzanne Jackson by Chase Quinn

November 15, 2019

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9 White Street New York NY 10013  +1 212‑257‑0033  info@ortuzarprojects.com  Tues–Sat 10a-6p