{"id":223,"date":"2016-11-18T22:25:26","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T22:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/?p=223"},"modified":"2020-04-24T19:54:16","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T19:54:16","slug":"focus-suzanne-paul-later-in-the-artists-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/18\/focus-suzanne-paul-later-in-the-artists-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus: Suzanne Paul: Later in the Artist’s Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Digging into an artist’s archive is… well, viagra sale<\/a> it’s so, so interesting. #nerdalert.<\/p>\n

This project has definitely invited more “story time” into my life – and I do love story time.\\n\\nI continue to scan images and am still coming across some surprising moments and some real characters – artists – \u00a0who Suzanne photographed so many years ago.\u00a0I’m eager to learn more about the shows that Suzanne participated in and what the exhibitions themselves tell us about Houston\/Texas art history.<\/p>\n

To continue where my last post left off, this project has me while scanning images also reading press articles on Suzanne’s solo exhibitions and organizing postcards and exhibition flyers and catalogues as well.<\/p>\n

In the mix of documents Suzanne saved I found this statement from the late Walter Hopps – former director of The Menil Collection – who sat for a portrait session with Suzanne:<\/p>\n

“Suzanne Paul should now be recognized as one of the finest photographers to come out of Houston. Her essential medium is black and white photography and her most important subject matter is portraiture. The portraits in this exhibition largely focuses on people associated with the arts of Houston or those who pass through.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not all photographers are skilled printers of their own work. Paul is a superb printer achieving areas of deep black in line with her instinct for chiaroscuro lighting of the subject.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Having been the subject of one of Paul’s portraits, I have experienced the directness and honesty of her work. She has caught an unidealized view of who I am.” – Walter Hopps<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Suzanne Paul, Walter Hopps<\/p>\n

An enigmatic portrait of Walter Hopps was included in\u00a0Being Human<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>a solo exhibition of portraits curated\u00a0by Clint Willour, then Executive Director Curator at the Galveston Arts Center, for Fotofest in 2001.\u00a0Being Human<\/i>\u00a0collected and presented together over sixty black and white portraits of Houston-based artists, curators, and art patrons photographed by Paul and was one of the largest\u00a0presentations of her portraiture in the entirety of her career – most of the\u00a0images never having been shown before. The selection of images in\u00a0Being<\/i>\u00a0Human<\/i>\u00a0heavily relates to our project in it’s current phase as we’re prioritizing the images that document our art History and many\u00a0of the same were included in the Fotofest\u00a0exhibitions. Too, the work\u00a0presented was standout and spirited.\\n\\n\"\"<\/a> Review: Being Human: Portraits by Suzanne Paul, in
\nHouston Center for Photography’s Spot Magazine, Winter 2002 Issue<\/p>\n

“Suzy Paul [had] a remarkable way of capturing the spirit and soul of people with her camera,” wrote Willour. “Her work is truly about being human…\u00a0Throughout her career, it is her black and white portraiture work that I think has been her greatest strength as an artist. That is why we [focused] on this work. Suzy [captured] people’s humanity, whether it [was] people she [knew] or discovered subjects.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Among the first artists she photographed were Dick Wray, Julian Schnabel, Terry Allen, and Norman Bloom.\u00a0Later she photographed artists such as Lucas Johnson, Richard Stout, The Art Guys, David McGee, Michael Tracy, Mel Chin, and Angelbert Metoyer, many of whom were featured in\u00a0Being<\/i>\u00a0Human\u00a0<\/i>and subsequent exhibitions\u00a0A Moment in Houston<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0Proof<\/a><\/i>. Alongside the artists in the collection of photography we are working with\u00a0are Houston curators and patrons such as James Harithas, Walter Hopps, Hiram Butler, Alfred Glassell, Alison de Lima Greene, and Edward Mayo.\u00a0Being Human<\/i>\u00a0was an important contribution to Houston’s history, documenting a significant period of time in the development of Houston’s art community and the two most recent\u00a0exhibitions\u00a0of Paul’s work, mentioned above, continue that dedication to this documentation.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0SUZANNE PAUL: PROOF exhibition catalogue title page,
\npresented and published by Deborah Colton Gallery in the 2016 FotoFest Biennial<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
From the\u00a0Proof<\/i>\u00a0curatorial statement:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
“The collection of photographic negatives, slides, prints and related memorabilia from this work, left in the possession and care of Deborah Colton Gallery at the artist\u2019s passing in 2005, now\u00a0exists as evidence and affirmation of the health, vitality, and\u00a0creative vigor of Houston\u2019s alternative arts community from its early years to its present state. Emerging as a study of the present through the past,\u00a0Proof\u00a0surveys this body of documentary photography and portraiture, highlighting the\u00a0artist\u2019s extraordinary talent in capturing unfiltered impressions of\u00a0her subjects, while offering an intimate glimpse into her creative praxis.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The multi-entendre title of the exhibition assumes its designation,\u00a0in the first place, from the presentation of ten selected\u00a0enlargements of the artist\u2019s proof sheets from the chemical darkroom. The contact proofs expose in revealing ways the\u00a0artist\u2019s process of portrait-making, editing, and darkroom printing while demonstrating the gifted manner in which Paul was able to relate to her subjects.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“The Legacy of the Lady with the Leica,” by Catherine Anspon, excerpt from the Proof exhibition catalogue<\/div>\n

Recontextualizing Suzanne Paul\u2019s photography of Houston arts and artists,\u00a0Proof\u00a0actively acknowledged the recognizable\u00a0talent of key figures that represent the arts in Houston in the\u00a0national and international arenas. In reviewing this selection from this artist\u2019s photo archive, it becomes very clear that there are hidden gems, many never before seen, to share across\u00a0generations. We find left to us a treasure of brilliant images, an invaluable resource for our community that testifies to the\u00a0artistic climate that has emerged and evolved in the city since the\u00a0creative boom of the 1970s \u2014 preserved for us by one of its most\u00a0dedicated participants.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Suzanne Paul, “The Art Guys, (1999), excerpt from the Proof catalogue<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Content originally published by Theresa Escobedo,\u00a0here<\/a>, on 11.18.16<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digging into an artist’s archive is… well, viagra sale it’s so, so interesting. #nerdalert. This project has definitely invited more “story time” into my life – and I do love story time.\\n\\nI continue to scan images and am still coming across some surprising moments and some real characters – artists – \u00a0who Suzanne photographed so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373,"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions\/373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deborahcoltongallery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}