STATEMENT
I am a figurative sculptor and printmaker. My work deals with the human dimensions of social issues. I have explored such issues as consumerism, homelessness, alienation and aging women’s bodies which I express through the mediums of clay, cast paper, prints and mixed media.
Forward Together, an exhibition of my digitally fabricated work in wood and steel, expresses my vision that the only way forward for civilization is for us all to embrace our shared humanity and move forward together. My work is a metaphor for this path to survival and is enhanced by the color of the wood stains as well as the forms and rhythms of the positive and negative spaces.
This exhibition is a further iteration of my work in Confluence: The Way Forward, an exhibition I mounted in 2016. It expands the content and utilizes the processes of new technology and the expertise I gained at the Staten Island Maker Space.
Susan Grabel
grabelsusan@gmail.com
www.susangrabel.com
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2019 | Forward Together, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2017 | Confluence: A Way Forward, Artspace@Staten Island Arts, Staten Island, NY |
2016 | Confluence: The Way Forward,Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2015 | The Venus Cycle,Gallery 66, Cold Spring, NY |
2014 | Faces of Alienation,Georgia College Museum, Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA |
2013 | The Venus Cycle,MSB Gallery, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Venus Comes of Age,Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2012 | Constructions of Conscience: The Social Art of Susan Grabel,Staten Island Museum, Staten Island, NY |
2006 | Venus Emerging, Soho20 Chelsea Gallery, New York, NY |
2005 | Re-Printing Venus (in collaboration with Jenny Tango), Vlepo Gallery, Staten Island, NY |
2004 | Earth Venus: Sculpture to Collagraph, Art Lab Gallery, Staten IIsland, NY |
2003 | Venus Pinups (in collaboration with Jenny Tango), Williamsburg Art Nexus, Brooklyn, NY |
2001 | Project Venus: Reinventing Venus (in collaboration with Jenny Tango), The Elizabeth Foundation, New York, NY |
2000 | Reinventing Venus (in collaboration with Jenny Tango), Wagner College Gallery, Staten Island, NY |
1993 | Among the Shadows, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY |
1990 | Susan Grabel, Wagner College Gallery, Staten Island, NY |
1989 | Homeless in the Land of Plenty, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY |
Commissions and Public Works:
1996 | Regarding Women, sculpture in lobby of the Center for Women’s Health at Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY |
1991 | The World’s Kitchen, Staten Island Children’s Museum, SI, NY |
Grants:
2012 JP Morgan Chase with the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI) Arts in our Communities Grant; 2007 COAHSI Excellence in Art Award; 2005 COAHSI Junefest Exhibiting Artist Grant; 2004 COAHSI Original Works Grant; 2000 COAHSI Encore Grant; 1996 Snug Harbor Cultural Arts NYSCA Grant; 1995 COAHSI Staten Island Greater New York Arts Development Fund Regrant Award |
Awards:
2007 | Jentel Artist Residency Fellowship, Banner, Wyoming |
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2018 | This Isn’t for You, CP Project Space, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY Art of the 5: Revisiting Staten Island, Snug Harbor Commons Galleries at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY Divine Women, Art on the Terrace, Staten Island, NY |
2017 | Art of the 5: Staten Island, Galleries at The Interchurch Center , New York, NY Home(less), Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion Museum, New York, NY 3rd Annual Hand-Pulled Prints: The Current Practice in Printmaking, Site:Brooklyn Gallery,B Brooklyn, NY Women Under Siege: It’s Happening Right Here, Ceres Gallery, NY Ugly, Lazy Susan Gallery, New York, NY |
2016 | Print Matters/Printing Matters, Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany, IN |
2016 | Women Gazing Inward,WCA at Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2015 | Speaking Volumes…. & Voids, Sculptor’s Alliance,Governor’s Island, New York, NY Art of Healing, Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY |
2014 | Brains, Boobs & Backbones: Women Artists/Women’s Issues, Paramount Hudson Valley Theater, Peekskill, NY Artists in the Archives: The Alternet, Cohen Library Archives, CUNY, NY Ceres@30, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2013 | Women Look at Women, Staten Island LGBT Community Center, Staten Island, NY Meet My Uterus, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2012 | Inside/Outside, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2011 | 100 Years of Women Rockin’ the World, ArtRage Gallery, Syracuse, NY Paperworks 2011, Arthaus Gallery, Staten Island, NY |
2010 | Chautauqua: A Continuum of Creativity, Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, NY Prince Street Gallery 40th Anniversary Exhibition, Prince St Gallery, New York, NY |
2009 | HUGEunHUGE , Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY Better Than Ever, Salena Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY; Dishman Art Museum, Beaumont, TX; Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ |
2008 | Exposure 2, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY Tending To One Place, Heritage Hjemkomst Center, Fargo, ND Fabulous Fiber, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ W.O.M.A.N., Gallery 6, Staten Island, NY |
2007 | The Collagraph Circle at Gallery 6, Gallery 6, Staten Island, NY A Place at the Table at the 440, Gallery, Brooklyn, NY |
2006 | 25th Anniversary Friends of Dard Hunter, Canal Warehouse, Chillicothe, OH |
2005 | Friends of Dard Hunter – 2005, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT Sculpture New Hope 2005, New Hope Arts, New Hope, PA Fifty Eighth National Open Print Exhibition, American Color Print Society, Cheltenham Art Center, Cheltenham, PA Nude International 2005, Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY |
2004 | Women in the Middle, Union Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI |
2003 | Ceres at 20: Birthday Duet, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY |
2002 | Tiles in America, Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, WY |
2001 | Straight from the Arts: Staten Island Artists Respond to the Attack on America, Art Lab Gallery, Staten Island, NY BiFocal,The Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor, SI, NY |
2000 | 7 Representational Artists Approaches Using Paper, Soho20 Gallery, New York, NY Space Shaping Space,Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY |
1999 | Women’s Work: What We Do, Art Lab Gallery, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY |
1998 | Diverse Origens, Core New Art Space, Denver, CO |
1997 | Death, Dying and Mourning, Ceres, New York, NY |
1996 | Pulse Points, University Lutheran Church, Cambridge, MA Jewish Women Uncensored, Cragin Fife Gallery, Brookline, MA Reality Check: Cultural Questions and Political Commentaries, Sylvia White Gallery, New York, NY |
1995 | In Three Dimensions: Women Sculptors of the ’90s, curated by Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY Community for the Homeless, Broadway Gallery, Albany, NY Buoys: Marking the Place, Art Initiatives Renegade Space, New York, NY Reflections of our Jewish Identity, Univ. of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX |
1994 | Point of View, Owen Patrick Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Doubly Talented, Krasdale Foods Art Gallery, Bronx, NY |
1993 | Clay on the Wall, The Eastern Washington University Art Gallery, Cheney, WA Family Ties, Krasdale Foods Art Gallery, White Plains, NY |
1992 | Women: Diversity & Vision,The Art Lab Gallery, Snug Harbor Cultural Ctr, SI, NY |
1991 | Giving Shelter, The BAUhouse, Baltimore, MD |
1990 | Women in the Visual Arts 1990, Erector Sq Gallery, New Haven, CT |
1989 | Witness of the Time, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI Clayworks, QCC Gallery of Queensborough Community College, Bayside, NY |
1987 | Festivities of the Tree,, Garden Cottage at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, SI, NY |
1986 | The Contemporary Woman in Art, WARM Gallery, Minneapolis, MN |
1984 | Artists Choice Museum: The First Eight Years, Artists Choice Museum, New York, NY Portraits: Form and Concept, First Women’s Bank, New York, NY |
1981 | 2 Sculpture of the 70’s: the Figure, Pratt Institute Gallery – Manhattan Center, Arkansas Arts Center, University of Oklahoma at Norman, Arizona State University at Tempe, Dartmouth College Museum |
Selected Reviews and Articles:
Fressola, Michael, ‘Venus Comes of Age’ in Manhattan, Staten Island Advance, May 12, 2013 | |
Fressola, Michael, How Many Wrongs Make A Right?, Staten Island Advance, March 18, 2012 | |
Fressola, Michael, Playing Well Together, Staten Island Advance, March 8, 2009 | |
Sievert, Robert, Susan Grabel in the Studio, www.artezine.com, Number 10, May 2004 | |
Fressola, Michael, Daring to be Beautiful, Staten Island Advance, November 5, 2000 | |
Raynor, Vivien, Color Relationships in Valhalla, Family Ties in Krasdale, The New York Times, Nov. 7, 1993 | |
Fressola, Michael J., Susan Grabel’s ‘Shadows illuminate isolation’, Staten Island Advance, Mar. 12, 1993 | |
Fressola, Michael J., Sculpture with a cause, Staten Island Advance, October 23, 1990 | |
Zimmer, William, Mansion and Former Factory Offer Varied Views of Women, The New York Times, Mar. 18, 1990 | |
Fressola, Michael J., Focusing on the Homeless, Staten Island Advance, February 26, 1989 | |
Fressola, Michael J., Island Sculptor Depicts ‘What’s Out There’, Staten Island Advance, Dec 7, 1984 | |
Brenson, Michael, Portraits: Form and Concept, The New York Times, June 29, 1984 | |
Heartney, Eleanor, Portraits: Form and Concept, Art News, Nov. 1983 | |
Bass, Ruth, Alive and Well in the 70’s, Art News, February 1981 | |
Glueck, Grace, Art: Sculptured Figures of 70’s at Pratt Gallery, The New York Times, Nov. 7, 1980 |
Public Collections:
Staten Island Museum, Staten Island, NY, Rowan University Art Gallery, Rowan, NJ |
Education:
Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York (B.A. 1963); Brooklyn Museum Art School, Brooklyn, NY, studied with Joseph Konzal, Tom Doyle, Jolyon Hofsted |
Teaching:
Visiting Artist, Chautauqua Art Schl,Chautauqua, NY, 2001-2009; Lecturer in Art, Wagner College,SI, NY, 1973, 1974,1981, 2002-2003; Visiting Artist, Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, WY, 2002; Museum Educator, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, SI, NY, 2000-2001 |
Related Professional Activities:
Ceres Gallery: President 2017-present, Art Lab: Board member 2016-?, Ceres Gallery: Vice-President 2015-7, Staten Island Creative Community: Exhibition coordinator for Art by the Ferry 2008-2010, Staten Island, NY, Women’s Caucus for Art: National Treasurer 1997, National Board Member 1995-1997, President NYC Chapter 1992-1995 |