Biography

Susan Arthur received her BA from Grinnell College and MFA from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She also studied at Université de Haute-Bretagne (Rennes, France), School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University, and New York Studio of Drawing Painting, and Sculpture. The opportunity to work with respected artists such as Graham Nickson, Barbara Grossman, Bobbie McKibbin, Natalie Charkow Hollander, and Charles Cajori, as well as at numerous institutions, fostered an appreciation for multiple forms of expression and creative purpose. She has exhibited at Bowery Gallery in NYC, Art Chicago (with Browse and Darby from London, England) and numerous group shows throughout the US including Wright State University Art Galleries (Dayton, OH), Grinnell College Museum of Art (Grinnell College), First Street Gallery (NYC),  Touchstone Gallery (Washington DC), Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, OH), Masur Museum of Art (Monroe, LA), Flow 305 Gallery (online gallery viewed on Artsy), and others. She has received numerous awards in juried exhibits, including Best of Show at the River Market Regional Exhibition (Kansas City, MO), Award of Excellence at Ridge Art Association, Inc.’s 3rd Annual National All Media Exhibition (Winter Haven, FL), as well as numerous Juror’s Awards and University Purchase Prize from Wright State University Art Gallery. 

Arthur’s paintings are grounded in drawing and they evolve organically through process and observation, trial and error, moments of clarity and even as a consequence of doubt. The accumulation of marks, addition of color requires or beckons a response—more marks or colors, or sometimes muting or removal of past choices. The paintings evolve as form, shape, movement, spatial tensions, color interactions are noticed, take hold, and are further developed. The works are complete when they no longer invite an immediate response, but should remain open enough to allow for the continued possibility of becoming. Evidence of the search, or even painterly struggle, becomes integral to the final state. The process of working is personal and idiosyncratic, but once the painting is released, the viewer’s interpretations are welcomed. The paintings aren’t meant to be static creations, but rather hope to invite continued reflection. 

Arthur lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.