Characterized by the fervent energy of gestural mark making and wide swaths of vibrant, unnatural colors, these recent paintings are lyrical forms of civilized society immersed in a wilder existence. Joy, savagery and carnal sensuality that sometimes references violence, are expressed with a contemporary working of paint to create complex, emotional compositions by way of the subconscious rather than analytical mind. The background colors weave through the suggestive narrative forms, denying solidity while searching for an interconnectedness through instinctual motions. They depict a hybridized nature where animals and people are swept up in an urgent desire to exist, to flourish. The cast of characters convey shifting psychological states that speak to the ambiguities, transient responses, and faulty storylines of contemporary life.
Suzanne Unrein's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the U.S, including Rare Gallery (New York, NY), Heather James Fine Arts (Palm Desert, CA); Mitte Projects (New York, NY & Miami, FL), Galleri Urbane (Dallas, TX,) Boltax Gallery at the Next Art Fair (Chicago, IL,) the Sara Nightingale Gallery (Sag Harbor, NY) and Boltax Gallery (Shelter Island, NY.)
Unrein’s work is in the current exhibition, “Risky Business” curated by Marie Thibeault and Max Presneill at the Torrance Art Museum, Torrance CA. Recent shows include “Suzanne Unrein: Undertow,” at Mosaic Artspace with a catalog and accompanying essay by Dan Cameron, LIC, NY; “Bodies, bodies, bodies: raffish vulnerability and profane ambivalence,” curated by Parker Daley Garcia at Pen + Brush, NY, NY; “Re-Wilding: JoAnne Carson & Suzanne Unrein” at the Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY, “Make Art Not War” at Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY and “Properties of Illusion in the Candy Store” at ArtPort Kingston, Kingston NY, curated by Laurie de Chiara.
Unrein is a 2023 grant recipient of the FST StudioProjects Fund, New York, NY and a 2023-2024 recipient of the studio program residency at Painting Space 122, New York, NY. Unrein’s work was spotlighted in The Oxford Handbook of Perceptual Organization (Oxford University Press) and the focus of the short film, Hands & Eyes, that premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Her residencies and fellowships include the Studio Program at P.S. 122 in the East Village, the Jentel Foundation in Banner, WY, and the Can Serrat residency in Le Bruc, Barcelona, Spain. Unrein's work is in the public collections of Andromeda Advantage, Long Island City, NY; the Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, Jersey City, NJ; the U.S. Embassy, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Fish & Game, Hudson, NY and The Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary, Pretoria, South Africa. Unrein is a California native and a current New Yorker by way of Florida.
Born in Sacramento, CA
Lives and works in New York, NY
BD, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Solo & Two-person Exhibitions
2023 Suzanne Unrein: Undertow, MOSAIC Artspace, Long Island City, NY, catalog essay by Dan Cameron
2022 JoAnne Carson & Suzanne Unrein, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
2019 Slip, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
2015 Fresh!, RARE Gallery, New York, NY
2014 BG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2012 Interlopers, RARE Gallery, New York, NY
2011 Boltax Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2010 RARE Gallery, New York, NY
Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
NEXT Art Fair, Boltax Gallery, Chicago IL
2008 Subtracting Evolution, Boltax Gallery, Shelter Island, NY
Group Exhibitions
2024 Risky Business, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA, curated by Marie Thibeault and Max Presneill (March 30-May 4)
2023 Bodies, Bodies, Bodies: raffish vulnerability and profane ambivalence, Pen + Brush, New York, NY,
curated by Parker Daley Garcia
All Fools Show, Icebox Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Tom Fitzgibbon
Paroxysm, Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY, curated by Alison Pirie
2022 Winter Group Show, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
All in One, Anderson Contemporary, New York, NY
Properties of Illusion in the Candy Store, ArtPort Kingston, Kingston, NY, curated by Laurie
de Chiara
Make Art Not War, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
The Line of Reflection, Mitte Projects, Miami, FL
2021 Hudson River Museum, Benefit Auction curated by Paul Laster, Yonkers, NY
I'm So Glad I'm Just Like You, Brick and Mortar Gallery, Easton, PA
Language is Never Neutral, online exhibition, Mitte Projects
Going for Baroque, The Gallery Space, Rahway, NJ
Group Show, online exhibition, SHRINE, New York, NY
2020 Parrish Art Museum, Charity Event, Water Mill, NY
Reaction in Seclusion, online exhibition, curated by Beatrice Hasell-McCosh, London, UK
Imaginary Future, Mitte Projects, online exhibition, curated by Frances Sinkowitch
2019 Play Me, Mitte Projects + Wynwood Arts 29, Miami, FL
Art in Embassies, U.S. Embassy, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
BG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Afflatus, 5-50 Gallery, Long Island City, NY
Holly Hunt, Los Angeles, CA, curated by John Wolf
PS122 Gallery, New York, NY
2018 Mitte Projects, New York, NY
One Art Space, New York, NY, curated by Rik Singley
Mitte Projects, Coconut Grove, FL
Mitte Projects, Miami, FL
Dearest Everybody, Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Inara George
2017 #friendswithboats, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
Open Garden, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
2016 The Persistence of Urgency, Mayson Gallery, New York, NY
2015 Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
bG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2013 Anacostia Art Center, Washington DC
Boltax Gallery, Shelter Island, NY
2012 Scope Miami, RARE Gallery, Miami Beach, FL
The Contemporary Figure: Past Presence, Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA, September 6-November 24
Texas Contemporary, Boltax Gallery, Houston , TX
2011 Texas Contemporary, Boltax Gallery, Houston, TX
Dallas Art Fair, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
2010 The Norwood Collection, Norwood Art Club, New York, NY
2009 SCOPE Miami, RARE Gallery, Miami Beach, FL
8x12, RARE Gallery, New York, NY
Suzanne Unrein, Heejung Cho, Hong Seon Jang, Gallery 201 at PS122, New York, NY
2008 The Art of Thought, The City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA, curated by Kim Abeles
2007 The City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, Ca
Artists Space, New York, NY
PS 122 Gallery, New York, NY
2005 Artists Space, New York, NY
2002 Miller Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
1997 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
LACE Annuale, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
The Berkshire Museum of Art, Pittsfield, MA
1993 Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, CA, curated by Kim Abeles
Awards and Grants
2023 Grant Recipient, FST StudioProjects Fund, New York, NY
Project Studio Recipient, Painting Space 122, New York, NY
2020 ESKFF Residency, Jersey City, New Jersey
2018 Fellowship, Can Serrat Residency, El Bruc, Barcelona, Spain
2009 Fellowship, Jentel Artist Residency Program, Banner, Wyoming
2007-9 Project Studio Recipient, Painting Space 122, New York, NY
Public Collections
Andromeda Advantage, Long Island City, NY
The Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, Jersey City, NJ
U.S. Embassy, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Fish & Game, Hudson, NY
The Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary, Pretoria, South Africa
Books & Catalogs
2023 Catalog, Suzanne Unrein: Undertow, 2017-2022, MOSAIC Artspace, Long Island City, NY, Essay by Dan Cameron
2019 Catalog, Art in Embassies, US Department of State
Catalog, 2015-2018 Residents, Can Serrat, El Bruc, Spain
2015 Wagemans, Johan, The Oxford Handbook of Perceptual Organization, The Oxford Press, pp. 914-916.
2010 Catalog, Art Auction For Haiti, Boltax Gallery, New York, NY, January 28
2008 Catalog, The Art of Thought, Curated by Kim Abeles, City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA
1997 Catalog, New Painting and Sculpture, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
1993 Catalog, Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
Bibliography
2022 Segal, Mark, “Empathy with Nature,” East Hampton Star, October 20
Cameron, Dan, “A Return to Eden,” Essay for the press release, Re-Wilding: JoAnne Carson & Suzanne Unrein, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
Downing, King, “Conversation with Lowell Boyers & Suzanne Unrein,” Good Morning Nueva York, WBAI radio, September 26
2021 Taylor, Candace, "The U.S. Housing Market Is Losing Some of Its ‘Frenzy,’ as More Homes List for Sale," Wall Street Journal, July 16, M9
2020 Everhart, Morgan, "Artist Suzanne Unrein's Paintings Share An Experience, Not a Story," A Women's Thing, October
Mudfish 21, New York, NY, March
2019 Unrein, Suzanne, "Suzanne Unrein on Henri Rousseau," Painters on Paintings, November 14
Roberts, Cid, Art Out: 5-50 Gallery Presents "Afflatus,” Musee Magazine, July 8
Johnson, Elizabeth, “Afflatus at 5-50 Gallery,” Delicious Line, June 21
Segal, Mark, “New at Nightingale,” East Hampton Star, May 9
Trauring, Michelle, “Fantasy at Sara Nightingale,” Sag Harbor Press, May 8
Mackin-Cipro, Jessica, “Gallery Events: Sara Nightingale Gallery,” The Independent, May 7
Wood, Antrese, "Interview with Suzanne Unrein," Savvy Painter Podcast, January 17
2018 Williams, Kathryn, "Interview with Suzanne Unrein," Radio Gabriel, June 5
Johnson, Elizabeth, "Suzanne Unrein: Animal Dreams Review," Delicious Line, March 2
"Suzanne Unrein," YRB Magazine, February 2
2017 "Suzanne Unrein," The Gathered Gallery, November 1
"Suzanne Unrein", Fresh Contemporary Digest, July 5
2016 "Artist Spotlight: Suzanne Unrein", Booooooom.com, May 20
2015 "Suzanne Unrein's Fresh," Wall Street International, January 15
2014 Ogle, Patrick, "See preliminary works from Art of the Pride, An Art Project by Suzanne
Unrein, Inspired by "Lion Whisperer", Kevin Richardson," mapanare.us, March 13
2013 Gerber, Sarah, "Mad Men Meets Wallpaper," FXFOWLE’s blog, July 17
2012 “The Contemporary Figure: Past Presence,” ARTweek LA, September 1
2011 Landes, Jennifer, “Unrein Goes to the Movies,” The East Hampton Star, October
Rogers, Pat, “Artists Captured on Film,” Hamptons Art Hub, October 13
“Artist Watch: Suzanne Unrein”, Escape into Life, May 26
2010 Mora, Patricia, “Suzanne Unrein at Galleri Urbane,” THE Magazine, September
“Rushes at Film Art LA,” FILM ART LA Blog, February 26
Blom, Ela, “Suzanne Unrein/Rare Gallery/New York,” Art Splash, Blog, February 7
Catalog, Art Auction For Haiti, Boltax Gallery, New York, NY, January 28
“Art Auction For Haiti,” News, CAW, Caribbean Art Magazine, January 29
D’Haene, Elise, “The Art Scene”, The East Hampton Star, January 27
Landes, Jennifer, “Art Auction for Haiti,” The East Hampton Star, January 26
“Eastern Promises”, Manhattan Magazine, January/February, p. 61
2009 “Painted Story”, Vogue Bambini, VOGUE Italia, July/August, p. 306-315
2008 Sherwin, Bryan, “Interview with Suzanne Unrein”, Myartspace, December 10
Bevilacqua, Alison, “Suzanne Unrein at Boltax Gallery,” VOX Hamptons, August, p. 78-81
Ernst, Eric, “Art Review”, The Southhampton Press, July 17, B2
“Featured Artists”, Myartspace, July 21, Front page
Fasolino, Elizabeth, “Abstract History,” The East Hampton Star, July 10, C2