Artblog | Susan Isaacs

April 12, 2023 by Susan Isaacs

Nourish, a deep dive into the nuances of sustenance and all its forms at the Delaware Contemporary

Susan Isaacs reviews three of the 10 installations that make up Nourish, an exploration of the sustenance that we all need at the Delaware Contemporary. The works and installation Isaacs focuses on offer up critiques of the role of women, in More Than a Woman, Adrian L. Burrell’s film and installation titled The Saints in Kongo Time, and the fantastical work of Miami based artists Federico Uribe. Each offers a different context for nourishment: the female body, the family and its history and the need to repair the plant.

November 21, 2022 by Susan Isaacs

Craft exhibits shine at the Renwick Gallery, Delaware Contemporary and Towson University Center for the Arts

Susan Isaacs writes that the craft sector of the art world is abloom with exhibitions, many of which have outstanding works on view.

June 29, 2022 by Susan Isaacs

Expressive color and the materiality of paint make Joan Mitchell’s exhibit at Baltimore Museum of Art a must-see

Susan Isaacs sees the popular show of Joan Mitchell’s works at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and says the show lives up to its reputation: “It really is that good.” The show is at the BMA until Aug. 14, 2022.

April 15, 2022 by Susan Isaacs

Nanette Carter’s journey as artist, educator, and Anonymous was a Woman award winner

Susan Isaacs interviews artist Nanette Carter, whose journey includes years as an art educator, as well as 17 years as a full time professional artist sustaining herself through sales of her work. An amazing story. Nanette Carter is featured in a 2-person exhibit at Towson University now through April 23. Be sure to catch it is you’re in the Baltimore area.

January 6, 2022 by Susan Isaacs

‘Afro-American Images 1971’ exhibit is restaged by Delaware Art Museum in a museum mea culpa

“To write about the Black presence at the Delaware Art Museum is to recall the absence of curators, exhibitions, and artists,” says art historian and artist Simone Austin in the catalog for the re-staging of the exhibition ‘Afro-American Images 1971,’ now at the Delaware Museum. Our contributor Susan Isaacs gives the story of the current exhibition and its historical predecessor, and says, “The show is very important.”

December 15, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Powerful show of art by women and non-binary artists working in the region today, at the Delaware Contemporary

Regional women artists of all ages ply various media, from plaster and paint to fibers and installation, in a show that is a demonstration of women and non-binary artists’ power to create. Our reviewer Susan Isaacs says: ‘Given the particularly fraught moment we are facing now regarding… voting rights and control of women’s bodies and those with a uterus, “Fields and Formations” is an especially important statement about the creativity and commitment of women and non-binary artists. “ We encourage you to see this exhibit, up now to January 7, 2022.

November 23, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

‘Seeing Climate Change’ with artist-activist Diane Burko at American University Museum

In her review, Susan Isaacs calls Diane Burko’s art an activist response to the call to arms to save the planet. “Diane Burko: Seeing Climate Change,” on view until Dec. 12, 2021, at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, is a wide-ranging overview of Burko’s beautiful abstract, photography- and map-linked paintings of eco-catastrophes today (melting glaciers, dying coral reefs).

October 7, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Recollections of Peter Williams (1952-2021), prolific painter and activist

Susan Isaacs, who had the pleasure of curating Peter Williams twice, writes a thoughtful post on the painter’s work and fondly reflects on their shared moments together. Susan misses Williams, and says his death is a loss to us all- both personally and politically.

July 21, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Smithsonian American Art Museum’s laudatory shows of Chicanx art and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt’s legacy

Susan Isaacs visits the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and is impressed by two socially concerned exhibitions: “”¡Printing the Revolution!”(on view through August 8, 2021) and “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States” (now closed; online materials available).

July 16, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Outstanding exhibitions at Taubman Museum, and more, in Roanoke, Virginia

Artblog contributor Susan Isaacs recently took a trip to Roanoke, Virginia, where she visited four exciting exhibitions at the Taubman Museum– most on view thru September or December, 2021– and more. If you’re thinking of visiting Roanoke, look no farther than this post!

June 2, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Sonya Clark disentangles America’s racist history at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Artblog contributor Susan Isaacs visits ‘Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend,’ the first survey of Sonya’a 25-year career. The exhibition (which Susan calls “life changing”) examines America’s history of racial violence and oppression. It is currently on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. through June 27, 2021.

April 28, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Baltimore artist Jackie Milad on work-life balance, cultural symbolism, and making art unapologetically

Artblog contributor Susan Isaacs interviews Egyptian-Honduran American artist Jackie Milad about balancing life, work, and art; her artistic process; and identity-based art. Jackie’s work can be viewed at multiple current and upcoming exhibitions!

March 12, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Diane Burko talks about flying with James Turrell, becoming a climate activist, and current work

Artblog contributor Susan Isaacs connects with climate art activist Diane Burko in a Q&A conversation about climate activism, art historical influences, and Diane’s current artwork and upcoming exhibitions.

January 12, 2021 by Susan Isaacs

Contemporary art mingles with vintage party dresses at Towson University’s ‘All Night Party’

Co-curators J. Susan Isaacs and Erin Lehman write an essay about their exhibition “All Night Party,” which places contemporary works in conversation with 20th century party dresses, drawing similarities between America’s political climate then and now.