SUSAN SILLS

www.susansillscutouts.com

SUSAN SILLS

LIFE-SIZE WOOD CUTOUTS FROM THE OLD MASTERS

My life-size, free-standing cutouts are an attempt at a whimsical restructuring of art history. By releasing familiar images from the confinement of the frame and thrusting them into real space the paintings confront the contemporary viewer in new and surprising ways that invariably provoke not only smiles but also fresh insights. Renoir’s dancing couple, Velasquez’ princess, Gauguin’s Tahitian maiden all somehow change when they enter our rooms.

With a jigsaw I carefully cut fine birch plywood to shape, and then recreate in oil paints the original artist’s technique, be it the heavy impasto of Van Gogh or the subtle glazes of Ingres. Rendered life size regardless of the size of the original, they are able to relate not only to us but also to each other.

Bringing these characters into the 21st century is another issue. If we are to relate to them on a personal level they must somehow be in our world. With props and unexpected combinations, each character can take on an entirely new meaning. Using wit and sometimes humor, a new story is born. Sometimes the commentary is art-referential, a twist on another art form or another esthetic: art about art. Some of the works are simply the figures as illusion. “Is that really someone over there?”

BIOGRAPHY

EDUCATION

Brooklyn Museum School of Art
Boston Museum School of Art
New York University
Queens College
Art Students League

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016 Family Portraits, Viridian Artists Inc., NYC
2012   Cutting Loose, Viridian Artists Inc, NYC
           Faces in the Crowd, Acumen Space, Long Island City, NY
2010   Illusion/Allusion, Queens College Art Center, NY
2009   The Cutting Edge, Flecker Gallery, Selden, NY
2008   The Cutting Edge, Viridian Artists Inc. NYC
2006   The Cutting Edge, Schacknow Museum of Art, Plantation, FL
2005   The Cutting Edge, Viridian Artists Inc. NYC
2004   The Cutting Edge, Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL
2002   Life-Size Cutouts: Ladies at Leisure, Viridian, NYC
1999   Kaleidoscope, Manhattanville College. Purchase, NY
1998   Kaleidoscope, Viridian, NYC
1994   And So The Party Continues, Viridian, NYC
1991   The Cutting Edge, Viridian, NYC
1989   Portraits on Wood & Canvas, Viridian, NYC
1987   XIV Heads, Viridian, NYC
           XIV Heads,The Brooklyn YWCA, Brooklyn, NYC
1984   Paintings on Plywood, Viridian, NYC
           Paintings on Plywood, Bromfield Gallery, Boston, MA
1983   Figures on Wood, Lee Gallery, NYC
1981   Portraits in Wood, Viridian, NYC
1977   New Work, Brownstone Gallery, Brooklyn, NYC

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011   “Groundbreaking: The Women of the Sylvia Sleigh Collection”,            Rowan Univ. Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ
2010    Onward Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2009    Schacknow Museum of Art
2007    Visual Voices, Gallery So, Tokyo, Japan
2006    Beaux and Eros, Peninsula Museum of Art, Belmont, CA
           Big City Concerns, Fountain Gallery, Cape Girardeau, MO
2004    Hito, Toki, Tokoro, Onward Gallery, Tokyo, JAPAN
2003    Viridian Artists from NYC, FABG Gallery, Chicago, IL
2002    Inner Muse, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
2001    Hito, Toki, Tokoro, Onward Gallery, Tokyo, JAPAN
           Inner Muse, Pirate Gallery, Denver, CO
2000    Five Women Artists of the New Century, curated by Susan Sills,            Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
           A.R.T. The Garfield Temple, Brooklyn, NYC
1999    Cornucopia, SO Gallery, Tokyo, JAPAN
           Parallel Visions: The Sylvia Sleigh Collection of Women Artists, Soho20, NYC
           Greening the Planet, Wall Gallery, John Jay College, NYC
           BWAC Fall Show, Williamsburg Art and Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY
1998    Freak of Nature, Gallery 128, NYC
1997    Invitational, Nexus Foundation for Today Art, Philadelphia, PA
           Up From Manhattan, College of Mount St. Vincent, Riverdale, NY
1996    Diverse Influences, Chinese Cultural Institution Gallery, Boston, MA
1997    Just Us, The Wall Gallery, John Jay College, NYC
1994    Hito, Toki, Tokoro, Onward Gallery, Tokyo, JAPAN
           Invitational, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA
1992    Columbus Quincentennial, Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ
           Viridian Gallery Selections, Lever House, NYC
1991    Invitational, Wall Gallery, John Jay College, NYC
           Oi, Tazuko and Viridian Gallery Artists, Kyoni Gallery, Tokyo, JAPAN
           Oi ,Tazuko and Viridian Gallery Artists, Gallery Suzuki, Tokyo, JAPAN
1989    Invitational, Wall Gallery, John Jay College, NYC
1988    The Artistic Mile, Brooklyn, NY
           Invitational, Concordia College, Bronxville, NY
1987    French-American Exchange Show, Auvers-sur-Oise, FRANCE
           Ars Bruklyniensis, Weisner Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
           Artists on the Move, Chuck Levitan Gallery, NYC
1986    Park Slope Artists, Federal Plaza Gallery, NYC
           Small, Small, Small Works, Wall Gallery, John Jay College, NYC
           Park Slope Artists, Brooklyn Museum Community Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1985    Artists in the Picnic House, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
           Art in the Bush, Park Slope Artists, Bush Terminal, Brooklyn, NY
           Beginnings and Endings, Concordia College, Bronxville, NY
           NY Society of Women Artists 61st Annual Exhibition, Warner Communications Gallery, NYC
1984    Art in the Bush, Park Slope Artists, Bush Terminal, Brooklyn, NY
           A Tale of Two Cities, Bromfield Gallery, Boston, MA
1983    NYSWA 59th Annual Exhibition, Bankers Trust Gallery, NYC
1982    New Paintings and Graphics for the 80s, Warner Communications Gallery, NYC
1981    Love is What Its All About, American Standard Gallery,NYC
1981    Set piece for a dance performance by Sally Blane, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
1979-Present Semi-annual group shows at Viridian Artists Inc.

PUBLICATIONS

Hottle, Andrew, “Groundbreaking: The Women of the Sylvia Sleigh Collection”,2011
Dantzic, Cynthia Maris, 100 New York Painters, Schiffer Publishing, 2006
McCormack, Ed, Susan Sills: Postmodern Mixmaster of the Art Historical Cutout, Gallery & Studio, March 2008
Paper City Magazine, Houston, Texas, Photo Essay, June 2006
McCormack, Ed, Susan Sills and Her Band of Art Historical All-Stars, Gallery & Studio, April 2005
McCormack, Ed, Susan Sills Witty Cutout Installations Humanize Art History, Gallery & Studio, April 2002
Lombardi, D. Dominick, Abstract Ink Drawings and Photocopies, The New York Times, July 1999
Becker, Marilyn, Susan Sills Twists on Time and Place, Manhattan Arts, April 1991
McCormack, Ed, Susan Sills and “Friends From Art History, Artspeak, April 1991
The Artists Magazine, Photo, September 1991
Ruben, Edward, Susan Sills: Explorer of the Human Psyche, Manhattan Arts,
Santiago, Jorge, Susan Sills: Portrait of People and an Era, Artspeak, April 1989
Janney, Peter, Susan Sills at Viridian, Manhattan Arts, March 1987
Connelly, Mark H., Park Slope Artists at the Brooklyn Museum, The Phoenix, July 1985
Ilein, Abraham, Portraits with Immediacy, Artspeak, April 1984
Knode, Marilu, Susan Sills at Viridian, Manhattan Arts, May 1984
Nager, Joy, Artist Susan Sills Does Life Size Cutouts, Prospect Press, May 1984
Shanks, John Arthur, Susan Sills Portrait Cutouts, Women Artists News, Summer 1984
Natsios, Valerie, Gallery Reviews, New York Arts Journal, May 1981
The Ideal Society, Artspeak, May 1981

CATALOGS

2010    Onward Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2007    Gallery So, Tokyo, Japan
2006    Beaux and Eros, Peninsula Museum of Art
2004    Onward Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2000    Onward Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1999    Gallery So, Tokyo, Japan
1999    The Sylvia Sleigh Collection of Women Artists
1995   Onward Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1993   Viridian Gallery, NYC
1992   Japan International Contemporary Art Annual
1991   Kyoni Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1986  Artists on the Move, French-American Exchange

CORPORATE AND MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ
Schacknow Museum of Fine Arts, Plantation, FL
Standard Motor Products, Long Island City, NY
Seedco Corp., NYC
Yamaguchi Electric, Tokyo, JAPAN
Marusan Co., Tokyo, JAPAN
Kyosan Denki, Osaka, JAPAN
Diamond Electric Corp., Osaka, JAPAN
Parts Warehouse, Bay City, MI

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Viridian Artists Inc., President

Artists Equity

LINKS:  http://thedorseypost.com/?p=602  – Sept 30, 2011“Moving”  The Dorsey Post

http://thedorseypost.com/?p=2940 – May 7, 2013 “Cutting Loose With Susan Sills”  The Dorsey Post

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Sills

susansillscutouts.com