Suzi Gablik (September 26, 1934 – May 7, 2022) was an American visual artist, author, art critic, and professor of art history and art criticism. She lived in

Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of ...

Early life and education

Gablik was born in New York City on September 26, 1934. Her interest in art was piqued after visiting museums in her hometown with her father during her childhood. In 1951, after a summer studying at

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...

, she entered Hunter College where she studied with

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of the New York School, which also inc ...

. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1955. As a graduation gift from her parents, she travelled to Europe, but on her return she fell out with her parents over a love affair and had to rely on her own resources. Dollie Chareau, the widow of Pierre Chareau, let her stay in Chareau's studio, and she began working for , a dealer in art books and small-press publisher as a clerk at Wittenborn's bookstore and assistant with his publishing. This was the beginning of her work in art publishing and art history.

Writing career

Gablik wrote articles for '' Art in America'' (for which she was the London correspondent for fifteen years), ''ARTnews'' (1962–1966), ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', and ''

The New Criterion ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', as well as for blogs. Gablik's first book was ''Pop Art Redefined'', co-authored with art critic John Russell. Her other books include: ''Progress in Art'' (1977), ''Has Modernism Failed?'' (1982), ''The Reenchantment of Art'' (1992), ''Conversations Before the End of Time'' (1995), ''Living the Magical Life: An Oracular Adventure'' (2002), and ''Magritte'' (1970), about the Belgian

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bound ...

, written while living with the Magrittes. Gablik's ''The Reenchantment of Art'' announced her disenchantment with "the compulsive and oppressive consumeristic framework in which we do our work," and argued that a re-connection to the primordial and to ritual might allow "for a return of soul."Gablik, Suzi
''The Reenchantment of Art''.
London: Thames and Hudson, 1992, p. 3, 11. . Retrieved February 22, 2018.Morgan, David. "Enchantment, Disenchantment, Re-Enchantment,” i
''Re-Enchantment'', edited by James Elkins, David Morgan.
New York: Routledge, 2009, p. 16-17. Retrieved February 22, 2018. Instead of traditional forms of religion, however, Gablik sought out contemporary art that she believed broke out of the Western framework, championing the work of artists such as Frank Gohlke,

Gilah Yelin Hirsch Gilah Yelin Hirsch (born 1944) is a mwod:multidisciplinary, multidisciplinary artist who works as a painter, writer, curator, and filmmaker. Her work explores the connections between science, art, and spirituality. She has been a leader in the Int ...

Nancy Holt Nancy Holt (April 5, 1938 – February 8, 2014) was an American artist most known for her public sculpture, installation art, concrete poetry, and land art. Throughout her career, Holt also produced works in other media, including film and pho ...

, Dominique Mazeaud, Fern Shaffer and Otello Anderson,

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and author. She is known as a theorist of feminist Neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

James Turrell James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. Much of Turrell's career has been devoted to a still-unfinished work, ''Roden Crater'', a natural cinder cone crater located outsid ...

, and

Mierle Laderman Ukeles Mierle Laderman Ukeles (born 1939) is a New York City-based artist known for her feminist and service-oriented artworks, which relate the idea of process in conceptual art to domestic and civic "maintenance". She has been the Artist-in-Residence ...

, in the book and in subsequent critical writing.Gablik, Suzi. "Arts and the Earth: Making Art as If the World Mattered," ''Orion'', Autumn 1995, p. 44. In addition to her critical articles, Gablik conducted interviews with other artists, art critics or philosophers, such as Richard Shusterman.Gablik, Suzi. "The Ecological Imperative: An Interview with Fern Shaffer and Othello Anderson," ''Art Papers'', Nov. 1991. She also wrote essays for exhibition catalogues of shows that she has curated. Her papers are held at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

Teaching

Gablik taught at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts and

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

, and has lectured at many others. From 1976 to 1979, she participated in U.S. International Communications Agency lecture tours in India, Hungary, Pakistan, and countries of South Asia. She also participated in the Mountain Lake Symposium in 1986 and again in 1989.

Collections and exhibitions

Gablik's art work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Black Mountain College Museum collection. Her work has been exhibited at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York.

Personal life and death

Gablik was in a brief relationship with after her graduation. She died on May 7, 2022, at her home in

. She was 87, and suffered from a long unspecified illness prior to her death.

Awards and honors

In 2003, Gablik was awarded a National Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding achievement in the visual arts by the

Women's Caucus for Art The Women's Caucus for Art (WCA), founded in 1972, is a non-profit organization based in New York City, which supports women artists, art historians, students, educators, and museum professionals. The WCA holds exhibitions and conferences to promo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gablik, Suzi 1934 births 2022 deaths American collage artists American women artists American women writers American women art critics Artists from New York City Black Mountain College alumni Hunter College alumni Virginia Commonwealth University faculty Women collage artists Writers from New York City