form, color, illumination: Suzan Frecon painting
Description
This publication is the first major exploration of the works of American abstract painter and watercolorist Suzan Frecon (b. 1941), critically acclaimed for her sensitive arrangement of color, form, and texture and for the philosophical resonance of her art. By restricting herself to nonrepresentational forms, earth-based colors, and, in the case of her watercolors, “found” pieces of paper, Frecon achieves an unequaled sense of balance and openness in her work. The authors explore her process and materials as integral elements of her artistic aims and aesthetic and articulate the way her work distinguishes itself within the history of abstract painting. Featuring 10 oil paintings and 30 watercolors dating from the late 1990s to 2007, form, color, illumination is a celebration of Frecon’s unique paintings. Includes a selected exhibition history and bibliography.
About the Authors
Josef Helfenstein is the director of the Menil Collection, where he curated Experiments with Truth (2014), Walter De Maria: Trilogies (2011), and Klee and America (2006). He was the principal author of the accompanying publications.
Matthias Frehner is director of Kunstmuseum Bern, where he co-curated Nakis Panayotidis: Seeing the Invisible (2015) and Sean Scully: Retrospective (2012). He was a principal contributor to both catalogues.
Sarah Eckhardt is associate curator of modern and contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where she curated Posing Beauty in African American Culture (2014) and Unreal: Conceptual Photographs from the 1970s and 80s (2013).
Ulrich Loock is the deputy director of the Museu Serralves in Porto, Portugal. He has published widely on modern and contemporary art, including in De.Fi.Cien.Cy: Andrzej Wróblewski, Rene Daniels, Luc Tuymans (2015), Katharina Grosse (2014), and Paulo Nozolino: Far Cry (2005).
Lawrence Rinder is the director of the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and previously held positions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Walker Art Center, and Whitney Museum of American Art. He curated the first museum exhibition of Frecon’s work in the United States.