Susan Szenes

Studio 21 is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Toronto artist Susan Szenes. In these recent works the artist continues to explore the subject of travel, themes on urbanism, and popular culture.

Szenes creates montages of these themes, using found objects and reclaimed wood as her surface. This approach itself embodies her references to Jane Jacobs as a champion of the urban sphere in its true form - anti-utopian urbanity. Just as Jacobs viewed the ordinary and sometimes grittier qualities of the city as essential to its character and function, Szenes utilizes salvaged materials as valuable media for her message. Her assembled images depict tensions between city and countryside, and the real view of our world versus that of the imagined or fantastic.

One of Szenes’ works titled “Teetering Totem” depicts a toppling pile of Air Stream trailers and fictional Star Wars vehicles - a representation of American icons that suggest we are living “between two worlds”.

Susan Szenes is a Toronto artist with a background in graphic design, inspired by her early passions for comics, popular culture and punk. This led to her rebellious high school experiments with old-school style cut and paste zines. Szenes' career has progressed with exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Toronto. Her work is held in the collections of the City of Toronto and the Toronto Pearson International Airport.