Suzanne Curran Art and Objects
About Exhibitions
My work has been centred on four interrelated concerns:
The shifting relationship between time and significance
Scale and relevance
The delicate and often contradictory intersection of text and image
The expression and generation of emotions and humour
My work would be described as mixed media. The integration of text, image and the use of framing make it predominantly three dimensional.
Education:
BA hons (Fine Art) St. Martin's/Central School of Art
MA (Fine Art) University of Wales Institute Cardiff
PGCE (Secondary Education) UWIC
In Camera: Arcadecardiff (Queens Arcade)
In Camera is a term meaning 'in private'. It is also termed 'in chambers' or 'in curia'.
An opportunity to 'pop your head' through a piece of classical erotica.
In Camera is a selected history of erotica in art.
In Camera was made in order to encourage the viewer to engage with images in art history that they may not normally have encountered. It is a playful introduction to classical erotica in art history. Some of the images may not be construed as overtly erotic while others might.
The viewer/participator was able to select from the series of images and through the use of a traditional
fairground peep hole they could become part of the picture and in turn part of the sensual identity that they chose to ‘play’ with.
This (as in the traditional fairground setting) became a photo opportunity for the participator. The photographs became part of a collection to form a follow up exhibition.
Sensual identity has been a topic for artists throughout art history, the images selected show the diversity of the context in which they are produced.
This is a small selection of photographs of the people that participated.
‘Did’/ ‘Didn’t' was a collaborative project by S2. (Suzanne Curran and Susan Hogben.)
Cardiff’s ‘old library ’on the Hayes (now hosting The Cardiff Story) once existed for a very short stint as the CVA – otherwise (hardly ever) known as the Centre for Visual Arts. This nine million pound lottery funded project lasted for one year only. The wreaths ‘Did’ and ‘Didn’t’ were a simple and humorous signifier of how one minute (in the scale of time) the old library ‘Did’ exist as the CVA and then one minute it ‘Didn’t’. The interaction in this project was during the assembly of the wreaths. Viewers would be walking by and would voice their curiosity about the significance of the wreaths. Interestingly most participators were unaware that the CVA was ever going to exist – let alone existed – which probably explains its lack of attendance figures in that only year of opening – 50,000! The centres trustees lay blame with the Art’s Council of Wales for lack of support in promoting public awareness and chronic underfunding – or was it just bad management on the part of the CVA trustees?
‘Pride’ and ‘Prejudice’ was made in the same vein as ‘Did’/’Didn’t’ by S2.
2001 was the last time that gay ‘pride’ in Cardiff would be called by this name – since this time it has been known as ‘Mardi Gras’.
2001 also hosted the FA cup final between Arsenal and Liverpool at the millennium stadium on the same Saturday as gay ‘pride’. The juxtaposition between these two events and the demographic of people attending inspired the wreaths ‘Pride’ and ‘Prejudice’.
‘Pride’ was placed on the inside of the castle wall (one of the entries and exits to gay pride) and ‘Prejudice’ was placed on the outside of the wall.
There was much interaction from people leaving the castle grounds – many of them taking photographs underneath the wreath ‘Pride’.
The wreaths were constructed to signify the deaths of both ‘Pride’ and ‘Prejudice’.
Skidmore Residency: New York State
The exhibition concentrated on reconciling my roles as a teacher and an artist practitioner. Drawn portraits of the teachers at my own school were the focus. Reports that they had written about pupils were layered onto these portraits. It explored institutional correspondence and in particular pupil reports as an evaluation or assessment device, also the reporting of educational policy as an evaluation or assessment device for education professionals. Its aim was to engage with the part/whole relationship between myself as a teacher/artist/practitioner; the relationship between teaching/learning and on education as partial relevance or indicative of the whole person/school/community society.
Scale of Significance
The installation was made by enlarging specific areas of significance on the A-Z of Cardiff. Theatre lighting was used to invoke the feeling of dusk and street lamps. The viewer/participator could walk onto the piece so placing themselves in the areas that were most emotively significant to me as the artist at the time of making.
Corresponding Versions.
The installation was made by selecting fragments of letters, images and objects that were significant to specific memories of emotive events and experiences. The frames of the wall pieces could be moved by the viewer- inwards and outwards – so changing the size and reflection of the text- and from side to side- so revealing or obscuring the images behind. The lexicon card mobile letters could be interchanged by the viewer/participator in order to spell different words and the giant Russian frames could be opened to reveal the secret compartments inside. This interaction enabled the viewer to become more familiar with the experiences/memories being evoked.