SUZAN WOODRUFF
LUMINOUS MATTERS
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY BERGAMOT STATION ARTS CENTER 2525 MICHIGAN AVE., E-1 SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 P 310-453-0909 F 310-453-0908 www.williamturnergallery.com
SUZAN WOODRUFF: LUMINOUS MATTERS
Suzan Woodruff’s viscous vistas conduct the viewer through mesmeric realms where colors seem potentially sentient, diffusing, roiling, billowing, erupting their way across surfaces of cosmic commotion. The multihued tendrils and filaments that spread, striate and stratify before the eye bring to mind every manifestation of dynamic natural-world activity from the motions of tides and tempests to the configurations of solar flares and fractal patterns. (Think also of the swirling clouds spurring Mitchell Feigenbaum on to his epiphanies in chaos theory.) Some of these abstractions resemble satellite photographs of the Earth or distant nebulae or galaxies. Other paintings appear as if summoned from within the Earth’s churning molten core. Woodruff is a sensitive cartographer of deliquescent chromatic terrains, an acute surveyor of tumultuous ecosystems of radiance and perception. For Woodruff, to paint is to embrace chaos. “It’s the one thing I can count on,” she says. To make a pact with chaos, she explains, means maintaining an intuitive balance between concentration and recognition of the forces of natural occurrence, understanding the rigor required in allowing for the unanticipated in her art. Woodruff finds inspiration in art which makes its own personal covenant with the void, which delves into enigmas of light and color: O’Keeffe’s bold topography, Rothko’s deep abysses, Turrell’s optic environments, and the unearthly portraiture of that technological Eye of Providence known as the Hubble Space Telescope. Communication between elemental worlds lies at the heart of Woodruff’s “Psychopomp” series, a psychopomp being both a spiritual ambassador to the afterlife and a Jungian term for a mediator between the conscious and the unconscious. Nature is this artist’s perpetual touchstone. When bands of nacreous paint in a corner of “Psychopomp II” sparkle with the aventurescent shimmer I liken to the interior of a geode, Woodruff tells me about her grandfather, an Arizona prospector, and growing up around minerals and ores from his backyard mine in the desert. Luminous Matters describes Woodruff’s work to be sure, but also asserts that the luminous matters, that light holds the key to greater illumination. Kabbalists spoke of prophecy as the act of looking into a “luminous mirror.” An alternative title or a subtitle to Luminous Matters could be Light and Color (Woodruff’s Theory), after J.M.W. Turner’s 1843 supernatural vortex “Light and Color (Goethe’s Theory),” his depiction of the morning light after the great deluge. “The sun is God,” proclaimed an expiring Turner, whose majestic nimbuses find a way to waft into Woodruff’s “Properties of Light” and “Luminiferous.” Luminosity is revelation, deliverance out of darkness. Woodruff’s images provoke the viewer to see with new eyes. Anthony Miller Los Angeles, 2011
HATCHI, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 84X60
Light Particles, acrylic on panel, 45 x 46
Bright Angel, acrylic on panel, 45 x 46
Dance of Bees, acrylic on panel, 45 x 46
Aqaba (Detail)
Under Water Fractals, acrylic on panel, 45 x 46
Flowering Inferno, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Flowering Inferno, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Auditory Ghost, acrylic on panel, 70 x 46
Pele Fractals, acrylic on panel, 70 x 46
Luna Palpitation, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Luna Palpitation, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Light and Matter, acrylic on panel, 46 x 70
Dragon’s Tail, acrylic on panel, 70 x 46
Properties of Light, acrylic on panel, 46 x 70
Psychopomp, acrylic on panel, 46 x 70
AJANTA, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 32X80
GOA, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 18x16
Psychopomp ll, acrylic on panel, 46 x 70
Psychopomp lll, acrylic on panel, 46 x 70
Luminiferous, acrylic on panel, 46 x 70
Natural Phenom, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Natural Phenom, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Polyommatus Blues, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Big Pink Noise, acrylic on panel, 60 x 46
SUZAN WOODRUFF: SELECTED CV SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2011 William Turner Gallery SM, CA 2011 2009 Victorine Gallery, Newport, RI 2011 Victorine Gallery, Amsterdam 2009 ABBA Fine Art, Miami, Fl 2008 The Art Factory, Budapest, Hungary 2008 Diana Ferrone Gallery, Laguna, CA 2007 William Turner Gallery, SM, CA 2006 Berman/Turner Projects, SM, CA 2005 George Billis Gallery, LA, CA 2005 William Turner Gallery, Bergamot Station, SM, CA 2003 George Billis Gallery, NY, NY 2003 William Turner Gallery, Bergamot Station, SM, CA 2003 Scope Fair, George Billis, Gallery, LA, CA 2003 Hill Gallery, Toronto, Canada 2001 George Billis Gallery, New York, NY,NY 2001 William Turner Gallery, 2000 Art Konsult, Meditation & Mandala Paintings, New Delhi, India 2000 Palos Verdes Art Center, Burning Woman Performance, PV, CA 1999 Highways Gallery, Burning Woman, SM, CA 1998 University of Arizona, Tarantella: Painted Word, Tucson, AZ 1995 European Museum, Nassau, Bahamas 1990 Duke University, Durham, NC SELECTED GROUP SHOWS 2010 Matterial Matters William Turner Gallery 2009 Pharmaka Gallery, Mythologies, LA, CA 2009 Brett Westly Gallery Las Vegas, NV 2009 Melissa Morgan Fine Art Inaugural Exhibition, Palm Desert, CA 2008 ABBA Fine Art,Scope Miami, FL 2008 Bridge Art Fair, Miami, FL 2008 Scope Art Fair, Miami, FL 2008 Rebirth of Gallery, Laguna, CA 2008 Liquid Light, Museum of DAA, Culver City, CA 2008 Finish Fetish, MMFA Gallery, Plam Springs, CA 2008 Ten, Toomey Tourell Fine Art, SF 2008 William Turner Gallery, Bergamot Station,SM, CA 2007 Velocity, Claremont Museum of Art, Claremont, CA 2007 Liquid Light, DB256, Pomona, CA 2007 Red Dot, NY, NY 2007 LA Art Fair, LA, CA 2007 Art 212, NY, NY 2006 Freshstart, LA, CA 2006 George Billis Gallery, NY, NY 2005 Riverside Museum, Flow Painting, Riverside, CA 2000 Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, CA 1997 PS 122, The Tarantella, Group Exhibition, NY, NY 1995 Apex Gallery, New York, NY 1990 Paris, Peace Gallery, Paris, France
2005 Santa Monica Museum, Incognito, SM, CA 2005 Berman/Turner Projects, Flow Painting, SM, CA 2005 George Bilis Gallery, NY, NY 2004 Santa Monica Museum,Incognito, SM, CA 2004 George Billis Gallery West, Culver City, CA 2004 George Billis Gallery, NY, NY 2004 William Turner Gallery, SM, Highways George Billis Gallery, SM, CA 2003 George Billis Gallery, NY, NY 2001 Ruth Bachofner Gallery, SM, CA 2001 Robert Kidd Gallery, Fresh Paint, Birm., MI 2001 SK Gallery, Off The Hook, Group Show, Venice, CA 2000 Highways Gallery, Meditation Paintings, Santa Monica, CA 2000 Aguirre Gallery, Wonder, Group Show, San Mateo, CA SELECTED COMMISSIONS, AWARDS and RESIDENCIES Fellowship Residency, Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, India ‘00 Fellowship Residency, 18th St. Arts Complex, Santa Monica, CA ‘97-’03 Daughters of Discordia-book cover, BOA Editions, ‘00 Chelsea Magazine- cover ‘99, ‘98 Merry Go ‘Round Corporation, ‘97 Fellowship Residency, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, ‘95, ‘96 Karl Bornstein Gallery, Phx- LA ‘87-92 Numerous limited print editions KALA Artist in Residence, SF, CA ‘87 Fellowship to collaborate with sculptor Shinskrit Tajeri,’87 NEA Fellowship Grant, Arizona Commission for the Arts, ‘86 SELECTED COLLECTIONS Todd Wagner Princess from the House of Saud Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith Ibrahim Alkazi (The Sepia Collection) NY,NY Stevens Collection, NY, NY Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi, India Mel Ilberman, NY, NY (CEO SONY Music Int’l) Fred Wistow, NY,NY (Warner Brothers Film, corporate council) Richard Del Belso LA, CA (Warner Brothers) AT&T, Corporate Collection Double Tree Resorts, Scottsdale, AZ Michael Korie, NY, NY Rebecca Goldstein, NY, NY Scottsdale Center for The Arts, Scottsdale, AZ European Museum Nassau Bahamas American Bank Corporate Collection City of Mesa for Cultural Center, AZ IBM, Corporate Collection Sperry Rand Aerospace, Corporate Collection TransAmerican, Corporate Collection
SELECTED PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS Art Ltd. Interview ,2008 (Cover article) Mocoart 2007 Neatorama 2007 Flavorpil, 2007 LA Weekly, Pick of the Week,2006 Malibu Press, 2006 Pacific Palisadian, Money Magazine, 2005 Art Blogs LA, 2005 Experience LA, 2005 Flavorpill, 2005 LA Weekly, Pick of the Week, Peter Frank, 2004 Venice Magazine, fall, 2003 Unsigned Undesigned,2003 Los Angeles Times, Holly Myers, 2003 D’art International, Shana Nys Dombrot, Fall, 2004 Artweek, Winter 2001 Art Deal, ‘ Spain international, 2001 Elle India, New Delhi, 2000 Outlook Magazine,2000 Art Koncell, India 2000 Outpost, ‘00 El India,2000 Span Magazine 2000 Art & Deal Summer 2000 The Tarantella, 1997 Text by Patricia A. Simpson, P.S. 122 Shifting Shapes, Shaping Myths, 1995
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY BERGAMOT STATION ARTS CENTER 2525 MICHIGAN AVE., E-1 SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 P 310-453-0909 F 310-453-0908 www.williamturnergallery.com