SUZY SPENCE
BREAK MAIDEN
MAYA FRODEMAN GALLERY
BREAK MAIDEN
For the last nearly thirty years, the tradition of equestrian painting has been a fertile field of investigation and play for painter Suzy Spence. Finding artistic and conceptual inspiration in its aesthetics, metaphor, and cultural commentary, Spence creates paintings that touch on 18th-century society portraiture, political imagery, equestrian sporting paintings, and contemporary fashion photography. In her sweeping, intrepid brushstrokes, Spence conjures an air of female defiance and haughty sensitivities that feel alive and ghostly all at once.
Break Maiden, Spence’s third exhibition with Maya Frodeman Gallery, presents twenty-four paintings that were painted both at her studio in Vermont and while at a residency at The Old Silk Barn in Bruton, England, including the more monumental Racetrack (2023-2024). Whether she is painting the details of a rider’s sartorial glamour, or stepping back to capture an empyrean sky that threatens to swallow up the pastoral hillsides where her loose strokes have suggested a drag hunt is afoot, Spence’s work is charged with visual, historical and theatrical dynamism as she explores both the intimate and nuanced, as well as the more traditionally rendered moments of equestrian life. She relishes in the rich painting opportunities she finds in the graphics and color of racer’s silk uniforms, subtle emotion in her portraiture, the equine and the female figure in moments of pure athleticism, or verdant, teeming landscapes inspired by her Vermont surroundings. This exhibition presents a series of paintings of horses’ rear ends, which were inspired by seeing The Horse Fair (1852-1855) by Rosa Bonheur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In what she described as “a breakthrough moment,’ Spence found painters’ joy in the realism that came naturally in painting the sumptuous and
muscular butts of polo horses with muted beiges on black paper, and later, on painted black panel and canvas. These paintings demonstrate Spence’s mastery of her media, and the joy she finds in her sensual, intuitive process.
While Spence’s work implicitly comments on themes of femininity, class, and kitsch these works present the equestrian lifestyle in earnest. Though her entry into equestrian painting was initially spurred by flipping through Town & Country magazines while at Skowhegan in 1996 and tinged with irony, Spence now spends the majority of her time in Vermont where riding barns and saddle shops are abundant. Spence has immersed herself in that community and found a legion of female equestrians who serve as genuine and continuous inspiration for her work. The result of this transition in Spence’s life is a body of paintings of heroines with their steads that are as earnest as they are culturally charged. Many of the works of Break Maiden present particularly tender moments between young women and their horses and each other, as one figure gently melts into another, and a wealth of emotion is evident in her subjects’ gently rendered expressions as well as in the loose strokes and soft tones of the more abstract fields of the works. Spence finds herself and metaphor for her practice in these riders in their risk-taking, their endurance, and their moments of rest.
Suzy Spence was born in 1969 and grew up on the coast of Maine. Her mother, painter Marcia Stremlau, often took her daughter along to sketch the Maine landscapes. This informed Spence’s later practice, as she now identifies stylistically with the vernacular of Maine artists like Marsden Hartley, Fairfield Porter, Alex Katz, and Lois Dodd. After studying at Smith College and Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris, the artist attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1996 and received an MFA at
The School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1998. Spence came of age in a wildly turbulent and exciting time to be a painter. The nineties marked a distinct transition from work that was socially motivated and conceptual to an art world that championed painting and painters. In 1996, Spence was given her first exhibition at Colin de Land’s American Fine Art Co., an institution of change in its own right. Supported early on by de Land and his wife, art dealer Pat Hearn, Spence was immersed in a world that questioned art as a commodity with a striking cast of characters who relished in art, fashion, and blending the two interchangeably.
Spence’s work first received critical attention for a group of drawings presented at The Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles (1997); Paper Magazine, who covered the show, featured Spence on their pages many times thereafter. Reviews of her work have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Frieze, Artcritical, The Brooklyn Rail, Two Coats of Paint, and other publications. Solo exhibitions of Spence’s work have taken place at Colin De Land’s American Fine Arts, The Grazer Kuntzverein, Austria; Kunsthaus Glarus, Switzerland; NeueHouse, New York, Cathouse Proper, Brooklyn; The Helen Day, Stowe Vermont, Maya Frodeman Gallery (formerly Tayloe Piggott Gallery), Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Arusha Gallery, London and Bruton, UK, and Sears Peyton Gallery, New York, New York. She is a frequent exhibitor with David Dixon’s exhibition space Cathouse Proper, formerly Cathouse FUNeral, Brooklyn (2014present). Spence’s work can be found in collections throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Her work is included in the archives of Colin De Land American Fine Arts Gallery, held at The Smithsonian Archives of American Art and Bard College Library. Recently her work was on view at the Zillman Museum University of Maine (2020) and The Center for Maine Contemporary Art Biennial (2019). Spence lives and works in New York and Vermont.
RACETRACK , 2023 - 2024
Oil and acrylic on canvas
53 x 65 inches
GOLDEN DODGE , 2024
Flashe on paper
22 x 30 inches
POLO PARTY , 2020-2024
22 x 30 inches
Flashe on paper
3 HORSES , 2024
Flashe and acrylic on panel
22 x 30 inches
RIDER R , 2023-2024
48 x 36 inches
Oil and flashe on canvas
SMALL RIDER P , 2023
Flashe on panel
20 x 16 inches
SMALL RIDER V , 2023
Flashe on panel
20 x 16 inches
RACER (PINK) , 2023
Acrylic and flashe on panel 16 x 20 inches
BABY BLUE , 2023
Acrylic and flashe on panel
16 x 20 inches
ROSES RACER , 2023 - 2024
Oil and flashe on panel 16 x 20 inches
RESTING RACER (SMOKER) , 2023
Acrylic and flashe on panel 16 x 20 inches
RESTING RACERS (ROSES) , 2023
Acrylic and flashe on panel 16 x 20 inches
RESTING RACERS , 2023 - 2024
Pil, acrylic and flashe on panel 16 x 20 inches
BIG FARM , 2024
Flashe on panel
30 x 24 inches
SNOWSKY
, 2024
Flashe on panel
30 x 24 inches
BIG CLOUDS , 2024
Flashe on panel
20 x 16 inches
BIG CLOUDS 2 , 2024
Flashe on panel
20 x 16 inches
BLUE EYED GIRL , 2023
Acrylic ink on paper
20 x 16 inches
2 RACERS , 2023
Watercolor on paper
20 x 16 inches
SPACEY RACER , 2023
Watercolor on paper
20 x 16 inches
WINNER , 2023
Watercolor and pencil on paper
20 x 16 inches
SPECTATORS , 2023
Watercolor and pencil on paper
20 x 16 inches
CENTAUR , 2023
Flashe on strathmore paper 12 x 9 inches
3 CENTAURS , 2023
Flashe on strathmore paper 12 x 9 inches
SUZY SPENCE
American artist
Lives and works in New York City & Vermont
EDUCATION
1998 MFA, The School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
1996 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
1992 BFA, Parsons School of Design, New York City & Paris
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Maya Frodeman Gallery, Jackson Hole WY
2024 Suzy Spence at The Frame, a curated space by Oleg Guerrand-Hermes, New York City 2023
For the Roses, Arusha Gallery, Somerset, England
2022 Fading Landscape, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, WY
Like Racing Smoke, Sears Peyton, New York City
2020 Full Cry, Taylor Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, WY
2019 On the Hunt, Curated by Amy Rahn, The Current, Stowe, VT
Death Rider, Curated by David Dixon, Cathouse Proper, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Of Dandies and Drags, Curated by Ella Marder and Olivia Song, Neue House Madison Square, New York City
A Night Among the Horses, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York City
2002 The Crackup, Rare Gallery, New York City
1999 Visions of Grandeur, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarner Kunstverein, Switzerland
1998 Visions of Grandeur, Colin De Land’s American Fine Arts, Co., New York City
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Figurative Impressions, Hurst Contemporary, London England Now You See Me, The Bundy Modern, Waitsfield Vermont
The Essential Figure, Burlington City Arts, Burlington Vermont I Think I’m in Trouble, Sara’s, New York City
The Dallas Art Fair, Sears Peyton Gallery
2023 Wave Pattern, presented by Dylan Brant & Max Werner, New York City
The Coordinate Plane, Arusha Gallery, Chelsea High Line 9, New York City
2022 Properties of Illusion in the Candy Store, Artport Kingston, curated by Laurie DeChiara
Intersect Palm Springs, Sears Peyton Gallery New York City
Open Air, Sears Peyton Gallery New York City
2021 Spring Fling, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York City
Fete, Red Fox Gallery, Pound Ridge NY
2020 Summer Selections, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York City
The Enabling Act A Call To Arms, M. David & Co., Bushwick, NY
2019 Selections from the permanent collection, University of Maine Museum of Art, Orono, ME Fete, Bedford Historical Hall, organized by Bernadette Durham, Bedford, NY
For the Hounds, Northern Daughters Gallery, Vergennes VT
2018 CMCA BIENNIAL 2018, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland ME
2019 Grace au Dessin, curated by Jason McKechnie, Woodbury University Gallery, Burbank, CA
2017 Artcritical Benefit Show, Eric Firestone Gallery, curated by David Cohen, New York City
Light in the Dark, curated by Karin Schaefer, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York City
At a Languorous Pace, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York City
2016 The Hunt Intensifies, curated by David Dixon, Cathouse FUNeral at Coustav Waxman Annex, New York City
Group Show Artist’s Week, Great Spruce Head Island, Maine
2015 Summer Group Show, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York City
2014 Northeast (The Book Lovers), M HKA, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp curated by David Murato and Joanna Zeilinska, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The Hunt, curated by David Dixon, Cathouse FUNeral, Brooklyn, NY
Le Show Des Amis’, curated by Jeannie Weissglass, Showroom Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY organized by Jeannie Weissglass
The Appearance of Clarity: Works in Black and White, curated by Amy Rahn for The Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VA
2011 Signs on the Road, Ed Winkleman Gallery, New York, NY, organized by Leslie Brack, Michael Ashkin and Joshua Geldzalher
2010 Verge Art Fair, Dylan Hotel, New York, NY
2009 The Mood Back Home, an exhibition inspired by Womanhouse, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY, organized by Leslie Brack and Suzy Spence
Here’s Looking at You, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Sarah Meltzer Gallery, Momenta Auction, New York, NY
2008 Rachel & John, New York Foundation for the Arts commission, boxed edition
Born Again, Again, Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Eduard Steinhauer
Bridge Art Fair Miami, with curator Eduard Steinhauer
2002 Metaforms, Colgate University Art Gallery, curated by Carol Kinne
2001 Wattage and Friendship, Muller DeChiara Gallery, Berlin, curated by David Hunt
Vice Versa, Rare, New York, NY, curated by Michael Lieberman Slice of Life, De Chiara Gallery, New York, NY, organized by Laurie DeChiara, Scope Art Fair, Rare, Miami, FL
2000 I Saw Stars, Momenta Brooklyn, NY, curated by Leslie Brack
1999 Paper Magazine’s 15th Anniversary Exhibition, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY Accelerator, exhibition curated by Josephine Lanyon, Godfrey Worsdale, and Catherine Gibson, exhibited at Arnolfini Bristol,
Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, and Oldham Art Gallery, Oldham, United Kingdom
Chocolate Kingdom, Lesley Heller WorkSpace, New York, NY, curated by Leslie Brack
Encyclopedia 1999, Turner and Runyon Gallery, Dallas, Momenta fundraising exhibition, Green Naftali, New York, NY
1998 Painting Now and Forever, Part I, Matthew Marks and Pat Hearn Galleries, New York, NY
E Pluralis Nihil, American Fine Arts, Co, New York, NY, organized by Colin DeLand
A Skowhegan Decade, David Beitzel Gallery, New York, NY
Dataphilia, School of Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY, organized by Ken Feingold
PRESS
Interview with Suzy Spence, by London based art historian Carrie Scott for Watch Seen podcast, January 2025
Art New England, Cynthia Close, October 13, 2024, Now You See Me: Suzy Spence, Nikko Sedgwick, Carl D’Alvia
Glorious Sport, London, The Power of Paint, an Interview with Suzy Spence, October 2024 Seven Days Magazine, Alice Dodge, June 26, 2024 Essential Figure at BCA Center, Reworks and Artistic Tradition
Calling All Horse Girls Magazine, Volume 7: Dirty, featured artist, June 2024
Artnet, Min Chen, February 28, 2024 Meet the Painter Who Masterminded the New Ana Mendieta Series
Cathouse FUNeral/Proper: No Alpha and/or Omega (2013-2023), edited by David Dixon, 2024 Glorious Sport, The Power of Paint, an Interview with Suzy Spence,
May 2023
Elizabeth Buhe catalog essay: Like Art Always Was Suzy Spence’s Like Racing Smoke, February 2022
Essay by Curator Varia Serova, Zephyr & Maize, St. Petersburg Russia, June 2021
Artcritical, David Cohen, “Suzy Spence: Death Rider at Cathouse Proper,” March 2019
Portland Press, Herald Daniel Kany, “Art Review: The 2018 CMCA Biennial is Good and Messy”
Heritage Radio Network, Roberta’s Pizza, Bushwick, NY, Suzy Spence and Irina Milahache, Author and Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Toronto, join Coral Lee in an interdisciplinary discussion, 10/28/18 EPISODE 37
Artcritical, Wen Tao, “Hunters and Hustlers, Feminism and Theatricality in Suzy Spence and Heather Morgan,” February 2018
Artcritical, David Cohen, cover story “Suzy Spence A Night Among the Horses,” January 2018
Delicious Line, Suzy Spence A Night Among the Horses, reviewed by William Corwin, January 2018
Amy Rahn, PhD., catalog essay, “Genre Mise-en-Scenes: Suzy Spence’s A Night Among the Horses,” January 2018
Artcritical, “Critic’s Pick,” The Hunt Intensifies, January 8, 2017
Hyperallergic, IN BROOKLYN, 600 Women Unite for a Photograph, by Christen Clifford, October 2016
1stdibs, “The Enduring Appeal of Equine Art,” by Ted Loos, October 2016
The Met Museum online, The Appearance of Clarity: Works in Black and White curated by Amy Rahn, 2014
C-Monster, Miranda, Carolina, “Photo Diary: Stuff artists are looking at,” April 2011 ARTslant, Yaelle Amir, Verge Highs and Lows, March 14, 2010
The New York Post, Jennifer Ceaser and Brian Niemietz, “All Dolled Up,” March 6, 2010 The Brooklyn Rail, Sharon Butler, “The Mood Back Home,” 2009 Apollo Magazine, Vincent Katz, “The Women’s Rooms,” 2009 Artinfo, Rico Gatson in New York, “Picks” 2009 FemminstBloggers@BrooklynMuseum, Jessica Shaffer, “Picks” 2009 Art21Blog, Nathan Townes-Anderson, “Bite Me”, 2009
Motheringmagazine.com, Laura Andre, “The Mood Back Home: an exhibition inspired by Womanhouse”, January 2009
Artinfo, Linda Lee, “A Tale of Two Bridges,” December 5, 2008 Blankscreenmedia, featured artist, “Eye Pop”, October 2007 bkyn.com, Paul Laster, featured artist, “streams” section
The New York Times, Ken Johnson, Suzy Spence, “The Crackup,” March 4, 2002 (t) here magazine, issue 5, Suzy Spence featured digital artist t-here.com
Tema Celeste, Daniele Perra, websites reviews Yadigit.org, November-December 2001, July 17, 2001
Artbyte, Chris Kensler, “Brain Candy”, July-August, 2001 pgs. 115-116 Artkrush. com, Christopher Elam, featured website yadigit.com, July 2001
Cut-and-paste.com, Teri McSherrie, featured website yadigit.com, March 2001
The New York Times, Holland Cotter, “I Saw Stars,” May 19, 2000, pg. E34
Smock, Victoria Leacock, “Vox Populi”, July 2000 pg. 28.
Frieze Magazine, Alex Farquharson, Accelerator, summer 1999 pg. 99-100
Paper Magazine, Peter Davis, “Beautiful People” 1999, April 1999, pg. 72
Franz Niegelhell, Neue Zeit, Bewusstsein Industrie und Seifenopern, March 7, 1999
Ressort: Kultur, Österreich Salzburg, “Disney, Jesus Christus und Warhol”, SN vom 27.3.1999 Steirische Wochenpost, “Suzy Spence im Grazer Kunstverein”, March 4, 1999
Eva Stadler, “Visions of Grandeur” exhibition essay, Grazer Kunstverein, February 1999
Steirerkrone, Jagd-Bilder der besonderen Art, March 5, 1999
Walter Titz, Kleine Zeitung, Normen und Konventionen, February 26, 1999
The Independent, Phil Johnson, “Young Guns Go for It, Accelerator”, February 1999
Esquire Magazine, Tim Martienssen, “Be Here Now – Accelerator”, February 1999
Mark Harris, Art Monthly, “Accelerator”, January 1999, pp. 33-34
Accelerator, exhibition catalog, curated by Josephine Lanyon, Godfrey Worsdale, and Catherine Gibson, exhibited at Arnolfini Bristol, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, and Oldham
Art Gallery, Oldham, United Kingdom 1998
The New Yorker Magazine, “Painting Now and Forever Part 1”, August 3, 1998, pg 14
The New York Times, Roberta Smith, “Painting Now and Forever”, August 7, 1998, pg. E33 The New York Times, Grace Glueck, Suzy Spence, Visions of Grandeur, July 10, 1998, pg. E37 The Village Voice, Kim Levin, Suzy Spence, July 7, 1998, pg. 89
Paper Magazine, “Guest Artist Room with a View” by Suzy Spence, June 1998 CNBC’s Great Stuff, television interview with Suzy Spence, February 21, 1998
Artnet Magazine, Robert Goldman, “E Pluralis Nihil,” American Fine Arts Gallery February 6, 1998
Paper Magazine, Peter Davis, “Hollywood Hip 101, the Chateau Marmont has an Art Attack” February 1998, pg. 24
COLLECTIONS
The Zillman Museum, University of Maine
Archives of Colin De Land American Fine Arts Gallery, The Smithsonian Archives
of American Art and Bard College Library
New England Museum of Contemporary Art
The New York Foundation for the Arts, New York City
M HKA Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp
The Grazer Kunstverein, Graz Austria
Glarner Kunstverein, Glarus, Switzerland
FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2023 The Old Silk Barn, Arusha Gallery, Bruton England
2018 H.A.R.P. residency Barnag, HUNGARY
2009 - 2017 New York Foundation for the Arts, Fiscal Sponsorship, the online archive for Womanhouse (1972) womanhouse.net
2016 Great Spruce Island Maine, Artist’s Week
2011 Vermont Studio Center, Writing Fellowship
2001 New York Foundation for the Arts, Computer Arts
1996 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Fellow
TEACHING
2024 Lecturer, Pratt College, Brooklyn New York
2009 - 2020 Visiting Artist, Vermont College of Fine Arts, MFA Program in Visual Arts
2001 Lecturer, Pratt College, Brooklyn New York
ART WRITING
Artcritical: Jenny Saville ROUNDTABLE: by Suzy Spence, Walter Robinson, Barry Schwabsky, Julie Heffernan, Brenda Zlamany, Dennis Kardon, May 26, 2018
Aspirational: Rico Gatson’s Icons at the Studio Museum in Harlem, by Suzy Spence, August 9, 2017
Feminism at Frieze: A Gendered Perspective on the Art Fair, by Suzy Spence May 6, 2017 Open Casket: “Enquête” regarding the Dana Schutz affair, the painting, the protests, March 27, a roundtable at Artcritical with David Cohen, Suzy Spence, and others.
2017 MIra Schor’s M/E/A/N/I/N/G Magazine: The Final Issue on A Year of Positive Thinking. “Plotting” by Suzy Spence, December 11, 2016
CONVERSATIONS
Interview by Curator Varia Serova with Suzy Spence, September 2021
Heritage Radio Network, Roberta’s Pizza, Bushwick Suzy Spence and Irina Milahache, Author and Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Toronto, join Coral Lee in an interdisciplinary discussion about Womanhouse (1972). 10/28/18
Suzy Spence presents Pat Steir’s works on paper on the occasion of the exhibition Pat Steir, Drawings Curated by Rachel Moore, The Current, Stowe Vermont, 2016 On the occasion of the exhibition Stephen Maine: Paintings. Discussion of Book#14-0103 and the motifs that emerge in an oversized, 80-page bound work on paper. Melville House Brooklyn December 2015
In collaboration with Gertrude salons, Suzy Spence in discussion with artist Christopher K. Ho. , October 2014
Suzy Spence in discussion with Nicole Cherubini in conjunction with the Brooklyn Museum and The Gallery at 1GAP, January 2014
