Susan Singer

Tatjana Beylotte, juror of Connections at Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts, upon giving Susan Singer 2nd place for her piece Connected:

I felt a genuine connection to the works I chose for the awards and not only because that's the theme of the exhibition.  They resonated with me on an intuitive and emotional level.  I felt truly engaged by these artists' work...  I really appreciate Susan Singer's piece Connected.  It's refreshing to see her use of perspective - what she chose to focus on.  I also find her use of light and composition very successful in this painting.

Circular Reasoning: Artspace Gallery Covers Ground with Radius250

June 25, 2009

by Bird Cox

A 250-mile radius... hm.  That takes in D.C., Baltimore, Philly, parts of West Virginia, parts of North Caroline, Delaware.  It's a pretty serious call to artists, and it shows:  Artspace's open-armed exhibit has grown larger and more popular (not to mention more competitive) this year, filling its multi-roomed Plant Zero locale wtih choice 2D and 3D pieces, digital work, and video.  Friday's public opening reception, from 7-10 PM, comes on the heels of the previous hour's awards ceremony, so you might run across an individual doing a little I-just-won-a-thousand-bucks dance.  The winners will be decided upon by Marlene Rothacker, Director of Ehibitions at International Arts and Artists in D.C.

There's no thematic direction for the show - the only requisite is that it was created wtihin that 250 mile mark - so you'll get to see a full range of contemporary works from the mid-Atlantic. Ever wanted to flesh out an idea of what it means to be an artist these days?  This is an ideal opportunity.  I snatched a sneak peek at what we're in for via Artspace's Picasa page and from scrutinizing the thumbnails, I'll be looking for:

Susan Singer's Grace.  There are naked magazine beauties, and there are naked art beauties.  Singer celebrates the real body, no touch-ups, no mental airbrushing - "healthy, scarred, thin, heavy, male, female, young, old... all bodies are beautiful and worthy of veneration."  I like that, with the velvety accuracy of her oils, she convinces us to admire that cellulitic behind. 

A model who was pregnant when photographed writes: 

Thanks for your amazing work.  I feel privileged to be a part of it. 

I think of this painting as capturing a moment of time that is still in me - the ongoing moments of creation - of birthing, of watching [my son] become who he is - the painting reminds me of the spirit and soul of what I'm doing as a mother and woman which is so helpful between the moments of laundry, food, playing, fighting, and being.

Gallery Talk at GCCR on Painting the Figure

Feb 22, 2009

Click on the link above to see the actual talk on YouTube.

I saw 12 Naked Men in Richmond

By Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady

On a rainy afternoon, I was walking through the newly trendy area of Richmond’s Downtown Arts District.

Suddenly I was immersed into Susan Singer’s world of male nudes.

I am not complaining. I loved them. (Figuratively)

Twelve Naked  Men was displayed in-the-round at Visual Art Studio, creating for the willing viewer an inescapable confrontation with images of frontal nude male torsos from neck to thigh.  They are photo-realistically rendered in bold pastels, and shine a graphic, merciless spotlight on the subjects’ bodies, just as they are.  The headless bodies beg comparison with objectified, popular depictions of female super-models, but Singer does not just draw beautiful men; some of her subjects are aging or overweight or scarred. 

The pieces confront us with our feelings about male bodies, nudity, society’s view of the ideal body, and the definition of pornography.  Susan Singer’s Twelve Naked Men  presents to us not only the male body, but also our contrary, troubling, healthy, conflicted attitudes towards it.

I ASKED SUSAN SINGER WHY SHE LIKED TO DRAW NUDE MEN

(for more, go to http://www.travellady.com/Issues/March05/1281NakedMen.htm)

Photojournal Intime:

the aim is to be open-minded and to consider more off-beat and challenging representations of the human form, including the male body.

By Aidan O’Rourke Editor / Author

Dublin 9 June 2007

The series 12 Naked Men by artist Susan Singer focuses attention on the male body, not just

young and idealised but middle aged and not so slim.

I was intrigued as to why a woman would want to depict the naked male body, a subject that

has a much lower status than the female, and which most women appear to show little interest

in. If the male nude is depicted at all, then it's assumed to be in a gay male context.

(...)

Susan Singer’s pregnant nudes display a keen sensibility for form, texture and colour. The

effect is quite different - and complimentary - to the naked male images.

The intense use of colour accentuates the primeval aspect of pregnancy. Though the view is

from outside, the intense crimson suggests what can be seen from inside the womb.

(...)

I too prefer the aesthetic qualities of the female body, but the way Susan Singer has depicted

the male bodies I find to be positive and sympathetic. I find them more intense and

aesthetically complex than her female images such as the pregnant nudes pictured above.

I'm sure the subjects feel much more positive about themselves as a result of being depicted

in this way. To see Susan Singer's Naked Men series, go to www.susansinger.com