Suzy Lake

Suzy Lake

Suzy Lake as Françoise Sullivan
1973-74/2012
6 archival ink jet prints
91.4 x 76.2 cm (35.98 x 30 in.) (each), Edition of 3
Extended Breathing in the Garden at Night
2009
Chromogenic (light-jet) print
76.2 x 101.6 cm (30 x 40 in.), Edition of 3
Choreographed Puppet #11
1976
Chromogenic light-jet black and white print
102.2 x 112.1 cm (40¼ x 44⅛ in.), Edition of 3
Imitations of the Self (study #3)
1973/2012
Archival pigment (inkjet) print
55.88 x 43.18 cm (22 x 17 in.), Edition of 23 + 2AP
Puppet Study #10
1976
Gelatin silver, fiber-based print, photo oil, string
35.56 x 27.94 cm (14 x 11 in.)
Re-Reading Recovery #9
1996
Archiva pigment print
217.2 x 154.9 cm (85.5 x 61 in.)
WACK!: Art and the Feminist Revolution, 2007
Exhibition View
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Photo: Brian Forrest
Introducing Suzy Lake
Exhibition View
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
ImPositions #2, 1977
Exhibition View
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Reduced Performing: Breathing #5
2009
Chromogenic print
203.2 x 81.3 cm (80 x 32 in.), Edition of 3
Pre-Resolution Study #4
1985
Chromogenic colour gelatin print
50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Performing Haute Couture #1
2014
Archival inkjet print, mounted on Dibond
127 x 168.91 cm (66 x 50 in.), Edition of 2
The Natural Way to Draw (film still)
1975
Colour video, sound, 15 mins
A Genuine Simulation of... #2
1974
Make-up on black-and-white photograph
70 x 82.5 cm (27.56 x 32.5 in.)
Pluck #1
2001
Chromogenic (light-jet) print
50.8 x 60.96 cm (20 x 24 in.)
Lipstick and the Lido #1
2002
Chromogenic print
76.2 x 101.6 cm, Edition of 3 + 1AP
The Game is Afoot
2019
Archival pigment print
101.6 x 152.4 cm (40 x 60 in.) , Edition of 5
A Natural Way to Draw
1975
Chromogenic print emulsions on canvas
102.5 x 134 cm (40 5/16 x 52 3/4 in.)
Suzy Lake as Françoise Sullivan
1973-74/2012
6 archival ink jet prints
91.4 x 76.2 cm (35.98 x 30 in.) (each), Edition of 3
Extended Breathing in the Garden at Night
2009
Chromogenic (light-jet) print
76.2 x 101.6 cm (30 x 40 in.), Edition of 3
Choreographed Puppet #11
1976
Chromogenic light-jet black and white print
102.2 x 112.1 cm (40¼ x 44⅛ in.), Edition of 3
Imitations of the Self (study #3)
1973/2012
Archival pigment (inkjet) print
55.88 x 43.18 cm (22 x 17 in.), Edition of 23 + 2AP
Puppet Study #10
1976
Gelatin silver, fiber-based print, photo oil, string
35.56 x 27.94 cm (14 x 11 in.)
Re-Reading Recovery #9
1996
Archiva pigment print
217.2 x 154.9 cm (85.5 x 61 in.)
WACK!: Art and the Feminist Revolution, 2007
Exhibition View
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Photo: Brian Forrest
Introducing Suzy Lake
Exhibition View
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
ImPositions #2, 1977
Exhibition View
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Reduced Performing: Breathing #5
2009
Chromogenic print
203.2 x 81.3 cm (80 x 32 in.), Edition of 3
Pre-Resolution Study #4
1985
Chromogenic colour gelatin print
50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Performing Haute Couture #1
2014
Archival inkjet print, mounted on Dibond
127 x 168.91 cm (66 x 50 in.), Edition of 2
The Natural Way to Draw (film still)
1975
Colour video, sound, 15 mins
A Genuine Simulation of... #2
1974
Make-up on black-and-white photograph
70 x 82.5 cm (27.56 x 32.5 in.)
Pluck #1
2001
Chromogenic (light-jet) print
50.8 x 60.96 cm (20 x 24 in.)
Lipstick and the Lido #1
2002
Chromogenic print
76.2 x 101.6 cm, Edition of 3 + 1AP
The Game is Afoot
2019
Archival pigment print
101.6 x 152.4 cm (40 x 60 in.) , Edition of 5
A Natural Way to Draw
1975
Chromogenic print emulsions on canvas
102.5 x 134 cm (40 5/16 x 52 3/4 in.)

Biography

For over five decades, Suzy Lake has used her own body and image as both subject and tool to explore the complexities of identity, power, and embodiment. Lake’s political and artistic consciousness was shaped by her social justice work in the civil rights movement in her hometown of Detroit, then sustained by the artist-led cultural surge of 1970s in Montreal, where she played a pivotal role in advancing Conceptualism in Canada and beyond. Her work, spanning performance, video, and photography, reflects a persistent and rigorous commitment to challenging gender, age, and identity constructs, forging a visual and conceptual language of feminist critique that continues to resonate today.

 

Suzy Lake is based in Toronto, Canada. Her work has been presented extensively at major institutions including the Centre Pompidou-Metz, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), Brandhorst Museum (Munich), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts,  Vancouver Art Gallery, Hayward Gallery (London), Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, and the Art Gallery of Windsor. She has been the subject of major retrospectives, including a mid-career survey at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (1993) and a full-career retrospective at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2014). Lake’s works have also been featured in several landmark feminist exhibitions, among them WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (curated by Connie Butler, toured 2007–2008) and WOMAN: The Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s, Works from the Sammlung Verbund, Vienna (toured 2013–18), and are held in private and public collections worldwide. A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, she has been recognized with numerous honours, including the 2016 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, the 2016 Scotiabank Photography Award, and, in 2024, the Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement from the College Art Association in Chicago.

Born 1947, in Detroit, US

Lives and works in Toronto, CA

Exhibitions

Press

Publications

Videos