BLACK SUMMER Once upon a... fire
Dr Susana Enríquez 1
Cover: Black Summer II
Susana Enríquez PhD Painting
BLACK SUMMER Once upon a... fire
December Gloucester, NSW, 2020
Black Summer Private collection This work was the first painting, which gave the name and was the beginning of this exhibition. It was part of For the Love of Art, an online auction organized by the Newcastle Art Gallery Foundation in September 2020.
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S
usana Enríquez has produced her most recent paintings as a direct response to the catastrophic bush fires devastating much of Australia during the summer of 2019–20. Vertical abstract paintings in vibrant reds and blacks convey a sense of flames climbing the trunks of forest trees and exploding in the canopy in incandescent yellow; dangerous, terrifying and strangely beautiful. Closer inspection reveals how the paint is layered, with red embers beneath the charred bark; that what appears a spontaneous white-hot response to pity and terror is in fact a carefully constructed composition. Emotion is still palpable, as raw as the conflicted paintings of Baselitz and the other German mid-century expressionists, whose visceral paintings Susana studied during a residency in Berlin with her husband, the celebrated Mexican violinist and composer Manuel Enriquez (1926-1994). The couple moved between concert halls and art galleries in Europe and the Americas, meeting prominent people and distinguished fellow artists at receptions and gala events in a hectic schedule of performance and travel. But now it is Susana’s choice to live quietly in Newcastle and spend her days painting in her large studio. She still maintains close links with her native Mexico where she exhibits regularly. She comes, with a thorough art training, from a much more dramatic cultural background than we have in Australia, mingling the savagely religious heritage of Spain with thousands of years of highly developed indigenous cultures with their pyramids and bloodstained treasures. Surely we should not be surprised to find vestiges of this powerful legacy in Susana’s veils of primary colour and her passion for black? Death and transfiguration could lurk in every shadow. Jill Stowell March 2021
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Black summer... another day 2020
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BLACK SUMMER
Once upon a... fire
M
y exhibition is a visual diary of how my emotional valence was affected by the ubiquitous images of the worst bushfires in living memory in our country last summer (2019). Those images of despair and destruction were delivered by the news all day and every day. An overwhelming sense of despair consumed me. I felt immense empathy with people who fought bushfires, losing their homes, their animals and all the destruction that the flames left behind. As if that was not enough, we then had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the government-enforced social distancing restrictions and lockdowns, my negative emotions intensified, and I plummeted into a deep depression and anxiety. I found myself unable to lift a brush. Confined in my studio, I had an epiphany. I was able to reflect and gain resilience. I channeled my feelings of anxiety into my art, which is my passion, to produce a collection of paintings that expressed my journey. The result is this exhibition. I used red, black, and yellow to reference the bushfires and this country that I love dearly. As an abstract artist, I prefer to abstain from describing my artwork and allow the audience to find their freedom of interpretation. The struggle is not over, but the future looks promising. Dr Susana Enríquez Newcastle, NSW, Australia December 2020
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Wildfire
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Once upon a... fire
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Once upon a... fire II
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Luz interior
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Black Summer II
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Ominous Landscape
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The fire dance
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Escaping the blaze
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Escaping the blaze II
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Black Summer III
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An endless night
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No time for tears
Black summer IV
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Silk scarves
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Dr Susana Enriquez
20 Photo by Karl Brandstater, Merewether, Newcastle, 2020
SUSANA ENRIQUEZ
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usana Enríquez (née Alfaro) was born in Mexico City. She studied music, drama and visual arts. In 1982 she lived in Berlin; after that residency, she changed art for music, enrolling at the Art School, obtaining a bachelor and M.A. degrees from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she acquired a deep knowledge of old masters painting techniques. In 1991, during a residency in California, she attended painting classes at the University of California in Los Angeles, UCLA. In 1997 she won a research grant from the National Council for Culture and the Arts in Mexico to create the first of its kind CD ROM with a complete musical archive of digital scores by Mexican Composer Manuel Enríquez. Her nature is not passive. Her in situ knowledge of the art streams and other cultures through her trips worldwide has allowed her to define her idiosyncrasy and enrich her work. Susana arrived in Australia in 2002 as an international student to pursue PhD studies at the University of Newcastle, Australia, which awarded her the IRS and UNPRS scholarships. She obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in October 2006. Her interest in First Nations Australian Art took her to the Australian National University in 2008 and 2009, where she completed a postgraduate course in Australian Art history and curatorship. In parallel, in 2009, she won a curatorial internship at the National Gallery of Australia in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Art section. She gained experience in art handling, curatorial techniques and guide talks. Susana’s work has featured in twenty-nine solo shows and thirty-two collective exhibitions, national and international. France, Spain, Greece, USA, Japan. Her work has been a finalist in significant art prize and biennial exhibitions. Her paintings are in private collections and institutions in Australia, Mexico, and overseas. Her curriculum counts with several publications since 1999. Until 2016 she was represented by Agora Gallery in New York, USA. In 2020, the organization Artists for Peace, founded in New York by Joel Thome, Phil Moffa, and Padmaja Ganapathy, invited Susana to present her work on their first edition. Artists for Peace are a bridge that promotes collaborations between artists of all nations.
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Selection) 2020
Black Summer, Once upon a… fire,
2006
Lyrical Digressions, pinturas, Tighs Hill Gallery,
Gloucester Art Gallery, NSW
Newcastle, Australia
2018
Beyond the Imagination, paintings, John Hunter
2006
Vivace PhD Exhibition, SOFA Gallery, The Uni-
Hospital, Newcastle
versity of Newcastle
2017
Vernisage, paintings, Susana Enriquez’s atelier,
2005
Painting Music, paintings, Tuggeranong Arts
Centre, Canberra, ACT.
Newcastle 2014
From Red to Mexican Pink, painting on handmade
2005
Reverberation Time, installation, paintings, Watt
paper, AWS gallery, Newcastle, Australia
Space, Newcastle
2014
Migración, Identidad y Memoría, photographic
2004
Espacios Sonoros, Paintings, Watt Space, Universi
exhibition, 8x10 Gallery, Sydney, Australia
ty Gallery, Newcastle, Australia
2012
Silence light, paintings, Nanshe Gallery, Newcas-
2004 Landscapes of Sound, work in progress, University
tle, Australia
2011
Tema y Variaciones, paintings, installation, draw-
2004 One hundred paintings, Visual Arts Building, New-
ings, Modern Art Museum Toluca, Mexico
2011
Rojo de Ultramar, paintings, Cultural Seminar
2003 Sounds and Colours, Tuggeranong Art Centre,
Gallery, Mexico
2009
An Intimate Likeness, portraits, paintings, John
Australia
Miller Gallery, Newcastle
2001
Homenaje a Manuel Enríquez, Casa de la Cultura,
2008
Vivace, painting, drawing and installation at
Ocotlán, Jalisco, México
Muswellbrook Art Gallery, Muswellbrook,
2000
Retrato de un compositor, Seminario de Cultura
Mexicana. México
Australia 2007
Whereaver it may lead, paisajes, John Miller Ga-
llery, Newcastle, Australia
of Newcastle Chancellery; Newcastle, Australia castle University, Australia. National Multicultural Festival; Canberra,
GROUP SHOWS (Selection) 2020
Artist for Peace, https://www.artists4peace.
Drawing the Line, Postgraduate students exhi-
2005
org/home-oct-2020 2020
Online exhibition, Newcastle Writers’ Festival
2019
Newcastle Writer´s Festival, Back to Back
bition at School of Fine Art Gallery (SOFA) University of Newcastle 2005
XII Bienal Rufino Tamayo, Museo de Arte
Gallery 2018
Concerning Peace, painting, Maitland Regional
Contemporáneo, Oaxaca, Oax. México Small, a Touch of Colour, Back-to-Back Gallery,
2004
Art Gallery, Australia 2015
Masters of the Imagination: The Latin American
Newcastle, Australia 2004
Fine Art Exhibition, Agora Gallery, NY. New York 2007 2006
WOW, Women on Art, NCAC Art Gallery, Newcastle, Australia
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Japan, Japan, Watt Space, University of Newcastle, Australia
2004
Snap the Shot, Digital prints, Los Angeles Digital Art Centre, LACDA, USA
Just for Help, Matter Hospice, Newcastle, Australia
2003
Three Generations of Mexican Art, Canberra Grammar School Gallery, Canberra,
Australia
2003
The House Show, Von Bertoch Gallery New-
2003
Octavo Salón Independiente de Arte Erótico,
castle, Australia 2003
2003
Galería de Arte Contemporáneo y Diseño,
University of Newcastle Faculty, Staff & Student
Exhibition, College of Liberal Arts of the
1998
University of South Carolina, USA
1996
Puebla, México
Segunda Feria Universitaria de Arte, Museo Uni-
Destination Drawing, University of Fine Arts
versitario Contemporáneo de Arte, MUCA,
Sydney, Australia & Beijing, China 2003
Spirit and Art, Oia Gallery, Santorini, Greece
México, D.F.
Collectors Choice, Von Bertoch Gallery, Newcas-
Miniprint Internacional de Cadaqués, toured to
1996
tle, Australia
Spain, Japan, England and France Pintura Fresca, Jóvenes Pintores Latinoameri-
1992
canos, Galería Andre Malraux,Yerres, France
PRIZE EXHIBITIONS FINALIST Miniprint Internacional de Cadaqués,
2015
43 Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswell-
1997
brook Art Regional Gallery, NSW
España
2004
XII Bienal Rufino Tamayo, Museo
1996
Bienal Hermenegildo Bustos, Alhón-
Rufino Tamayo de Arte Contemporá
diga de Granaditas, Guanajuato, México
neo, Mexico City, Mexico Museo de
1991
Primera Bienal José Clemente Orozco,
Arte de Sinaloa, Museo de Arte de
Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara, México
Querétaro, Instituto Potosino de Be-
1990
llas Artes
2003
Annual Student Acquisition Art Prize,
1990
Watts Space Gallery Newcastle, Aus-
IV Bienal Diego Rivera, Museo del Pueblo, Guanajuato, México III Salón Anual de Miniestampa, Museo Nacional de la Estampa. México City
tralia
PUBLICATIONS Va de cuento - short stories – Creative Writing Colective – Ed. UNAM/CEPE Mexico
Voices of Mexico, CISAN-UNAM magazine, JanuaryMarch 2007 –Mexico City –
Migration: Identity and Memory – Susana Enríquez, interviews and Photographs of immigrant Latin-American women - 2014 Sponsored by the Australian Hispanic business woman network. https://issuu.com/punto618disenoeditorial/docs/identidad_y_memoria_final_alta_ok
Vivace, Susana Enriquez, PhD Exhibition Catalogue, University of Newcastle, 2006
Tema y Variaciones – Museo de Arte Moderno de Tolucacatalogue- Mexico, 2011
Hunter Life Style Magazine, “Life in the Hunter Region of New South Wales”, Issue 4 November October 2003- Interview Voices of Mexico, CISAN-UNAM, magazine, Number 61, October-December 2002-Mexico City –
Rojo de Ultramar – Catalogue, Seminario Mexicano de Cultura, Mexico 2011
Susana Enríquez - Gráfica Digital. Retrato de un compositor. Homenaje a Manuel Enríquez, Catálogo CONACULTA- INBA, 2001
Private Dreams Public Collection Exhibition - Manolo Ruiz Pipó, Essay - Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia, February 2009
Heterofonia – Cenidim, quarterly music magazine, Fine Arts Institute – Mexico 2000 – MM1 Un Año de Diseñarte 1999, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. 1st. edition-Mexico City –
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BLACK SUMMER LIST OF WORKS
1. Wildfire
Acrylic on canvas 140 x 180 cm 2006/2019
2. Once upon a…fire*
Acrylic on canvas 100 x 80 cm 2006/2019
3. Once upon a…fire II* Acrylic on canvas 100 x 80 cm 2020
4. Luz interior Acrylic on canvas 105 x 150 2019/2020
5. Black Summer II* Acrylic on canvas 122 x 91 cm 2020
6. Black Summer III* Acrylic/ polyester 90 x 60 cm 2020
7. Ominous landscape* Acrylic on polyester
triptych 70 x 60 cm (70 x 20 cm each panel) 2020
Acrylic on canvas 60 x 80 cm 2020
10. An endless night* Acrylic on canvas 91 x 122 cm 2019/2020
11. Black Summer, another day…*
Oil on canvas 150 x 105 2020
12. No time for tears
Oil on canvas 45 x 45 cm 2020
13. Escaping the blaze*
Acrylic on wood 120 x 100 cm 2020
14. Escaping the blaze II
Acrylic on wood 120 x 100 cm 2020
15. Silk scarves**
10x100cm 2020
8. The fire dance Acrylic on canvas Variable polyptych (four panels) 2020
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9. Black Summer IV *
* Photos: Bettina Damme ** Photos: Miranda Lawry
http://susanaenriquezart.com susanaenriquezart Diseño editorial: Gabriela Serralde ¥
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