Susan Campbell ART WORK
About
Having worked as a journalist in the print media for many years, I returned to college in 2010 to study for a HND Fine Art. This was the start of a long stint in education as the world of art, with all its potential, opened up. Initially interested in painting and drawing, I relished the chance to also study art history and work across mediums such as ceramics, photography and print, experimenting with materials and processes.
I went on to complete an MPhil Irish Art History and PhD Art History. During these studies, I homed in on modern and contemporary art while referencing other times, places and disciplines. My current work as an art writer and art historian, together with ongoing visual enquiry, are shaped by these projects and by creative interests I identified during the HND. It probes dynamics and structures that underlie reality as we experience it, and relationships within and between things.
To progress my visual language, I recently initiated an art-making + research enquiry titled 'Strange attractor', which will generate a series of blog posts and culminate in an exhibition. It incorporates a project focused on archaic Greek sculpture, supported by an Agility Award from The Arts Council (An Chomhairle Ealaíon). I also host art history sessions in the community and write articles and reviews for this website, as well as for visual art titles (see 'Published writing).
Contact
Art blog
Regular posts, including exhibition write-ups, dialogue with artists, art-craft, art-science and other intersections, plus ongoing research.
From across the visual arts and crafts.
Published writing
Commissioned articles, exhibition reviews and catalogue notes
Visual Artists' News Sheet
Katherine Sankey, 'an atom bomb in each morsel of life’, exhibition review:
https://visualartistsireland.com/critique-katherine-sankey-an-atom-bomb-in-each-morsel-of-life?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-visualartistsireland&utm_content=later-37783879&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio Sep/Oct 2023
Philip Moss, 'Haiku Paintings and Other Works', exhibition review:
https://issuu.com/visualartistsireland/docs/van_mj_2023 (p23) May/Jun 2023
Fiona Kelly, 'A Demarcation of Time', exhibition review:
https://visualartistsireland.com/critique-fiona-kelly-a-demarcation-of-time?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-visualartistsireland&utm_content=later-33566177&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio Mar/Apr 2023
Patrick MacAllister, 'Peering Out', exhibition review:
https://visualartistsireland.com/critique-patrick-macallister-peering-out?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-visualartistsireland&utm_content=later-29517078&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio Sep/Oct 2022
David Eager Maher, 'Pinked', exhibition review: https://visualartistsireland.com/critique-david-eager-maher-pinked?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-visualartistsireland&utm_content=later-24945945&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio Mar/Apr 2022
CONTINUED
Irish Arts Review
Kiera O'Toole, 'Public Wonders', artist interview, Summer 2021
Taffina Flood, 'Sensory Effects', studio visit, Winter 2019-20
Paul Doran, 'State of Flux', exhibition review, Summer 2019
David Quinn, 'Seamless', exhibition review, Spring 2018
Margaret Egan, 'From Glimpse to Panorama', exhibition review, Winter 2017
Gabhann Dunne, 'Spellbound', pre-exhibition interview, Autumn 2017
Shane Berkery, 'Bitter Candy' pre-exhibition interview, Summer 2017
Catalogue notes and articles
Colin Davidson, 'Window Self-Portraits', exhibition preview/interview
https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/you-lose-yourself-you-reappear,
Oct 2023
Colin Davidson in his studio. Photo: Susan Campbell, courtesy of the artist and Sotheby's.
Research
PhD (2019)
'All There in the Weave: Duality & Unity in the Art of Richard Tuttle'
This investigation into the art of American Postminimalist Richard Tuttle (1941- ) responds to his 2014-15 shows at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall and Whitechapel Gallery. These events spotlighted the prevalence of textiles and related materials in his work, suggesting that they hold important meanings for him. In identifying and addressing Tuttle's unstinting focus on polarity and unity, the thesis homes in on artworks from throughout his long career to probe their references to structural relations intrinsic to weaving.
Acknowledging the impact on Tuttle's art of his life-long autodidactic enquiry and self-declared mysticism, the project also explores his philosophical and spiritual beliefs. His work is theorised as a weave-constructing response to the ruptures he perceives in a polarised experience of reality. An in-depth analysis of the ancient, ubiquitous and cutting-edge domain of weaving and textiles uncovers mechanisms at play in his unity-seeking exercise, which is founded on a deeply held belief in the efficacy of art.
This project expanded a masters-level exploration of dualistic qualities visible in art, providing an opportunity to develop a more refined analytical framework. Its themes continue to inform my work, which also includes visual enquiry.
MPhil (2013)
'From the ‘Painterly’ to Multiplicity: Towards an ‘Aesthetic of Disorder’ as Evidenced in the Work of Mark Francis'
This project draws on philosophy, science, cultural theory and broader stylistic shifts in art history to explore oppositional qualities in the paintings and prints of Irish-born artist Mark Francis (1962-).
Gallery
Examples of recent work.
Exhibition
