Suzy Lake was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1947. In 1968, she immigrated to Montreal, Quebec following the 1967 Detroit riots. Influenced by social and political involvement concurrent to the early conceptual period, she is known for her large-scale photography dealing the body as both subject and device.
Lake was one of a pioneering group of artists in the early 70’s artists the to adopt performance, video and photography in order to explore the politics of gender, the body and identity. Early examples of her work form part of a touring exhibition titled WHACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution 1965 – 1980, first showing at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art in March of 2007. In April of 2007, her work will be featured in Identity Theft with Eleanor Antin and Lynn Hershman at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.
In a 1993 retrospective catalogue, Martha Hanna responds to this politicization:
“Although she has not overtly addressed feminist issues, the politics of
feminism is an undercurrent in all her major photographic works to date.
The attention to power relations that feminism implies may be seen in
Lake’s work as symbolic of a personal struggle, and her artwork is evident
of her progress”.
Lake’s work continues to use references to the body as a means to investigate notions of beauty in the context of pop and consumer culture. She has a long exhibition career in Canada, and has also shown her work in Europe, the United States, South America and Asia. She is represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art (Toronto).
Upcoming Exhibitions:
- Mar. 2007 - WHACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (and tour), Los Angeles, Museum Of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, curated by Connie Butler
- May 2007 - Beauty at the End of the Season, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto, Ontario
- May 2007 - Identity Theft: Eleanor Antin, Lynne Hershman and Suzy Lake, Santa Monica Museum, Santa Monica, California, curated by Jori Finkel
Activities and Achievements
- 2004 elected to the Royal Canadian Academy for the Arts nominee for the Toronto Untitled Arts Award, “Long Haul” category
- 2000 Kodak Lecture series, Ryerson University
- 1997 Greater Toronto Arts Foundation, Visual Arts Award
- 1994 – present represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto
- 1993 retrospective exhibition & tour, “A Point of Reference”, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography of the National Gallery of Canada
- 1991 named “Honourary Friend of the Teme Augama Anishnabai” (Bear Island Band) for exhibition and agit/prop support for their land claim
- 1989 named Honorary Vice President, “Mois de la Photo”
- 1988 - present University of Guelph, full time faculty
- 1978 - 83 Toronto Photographers Workshop, board member (founding member through Toronto Photographer’s Co-op)
- 1977 – 88 represented by the Sable Castelli Gallery, Toronto
- 1975 - 78 Concordia/Loyola Photographer’s Workshop, animateur
- 1974 – 78 represented by Galerie Gilles Gheerbrant, Montreal
- 1971 - 76 Vehicule Art Inc. (Montreal), founding member and Board member
- 1969 - 76 Montreal Museum School of Art, full time and sessional instructor