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A richly illustrated account tracing the full arc of contemporary painter Suzanne Jackson's life and multifaceted artistic visionFirst and foremost a painter, Suzanne Jackson has worked for six decades in a dizzying array of genres, including drawing, printmaking, poetry, dance, and theater design. Suzanne Jackson: What Is Love reveals Jackson's achievements as a leading and influential artist who has been in dialogue with her contemporaries, from Betye Saar and Emory Douglas to Senga Nengudi and Mary Lovelace O'Neal. This wide-ranging book illuminates Jackson's work and its connections to nature, environmentalism, performance, feminism, and Black and Native traditions. It explores the way her innovative hanging acrylic works break the canvas; the role of dance and set design in Jackson's practice; and her trailblazing Los Angeles art space Gallery 32, which she ran from 1968 to 1970, and which became a focus for a circle of fellow emerging artists. The book also features artist dialogues between Jackson and Nengudi, Saar, Fred Eversley, and Richard Mayhew, as well as a conversation between Jackson and SFMOMA painting conservator Jennifer Hickey. Exhibition ScheduleSFMOMA, San FranciscoSeptember 27, 2025-March 1, 2026Walker Art Center, MinneapolisMay 14, 2026-August 23, 2026Museum of Fine Arts, BostonSeptember 26, 2026-February 7, 2027
About the author
Edited by Jenny Gheith With essays by Taylor Jasper, Kellie Jones, and Paulina Pobocha, and contributions by Taylor Renee Aldridge, Tiffany E. Barber, Molly Garfinkel and Jodi Waynberg, and Meredith George Van Dyke
Summary
A richly illustrated account tracing the full arc of contemporary painter Suzanne Jackson’s life and multifaceted artistic vision
First and foremost a painter, Suzanne Jackson has worked for six decades in a dizzying array of genres, including drawing, printmaking, poetry, dance, and theater design. Suzanne Jackson: What Is Love reveals Jackson’s achievements as a leading and influential artist who has been in dialogue with her contemporaries, from Betye Saar and Emory Douglas to Senga Nengudi and Mary Lovelace O’Neal.
This wide-ranging book illuminates Jackson’s work and its connections to nature, environmentalism, performance, feminism, and Black and Native traditions. It explores the way her innovative hanging acrylic works break the canvas; the role of dance and set design in Jackson’s practice; and her trailblazing Los Angeles art space Gallery 32, which she ran from 1968 to 1970, and which became a focus for a circle of fellow emerging artists. The book also features artist dialogues between Jackson and Nengudi, Saar, Fred Eversley, and Richard Mayhew, as well as a conversation between Jackson and SFMOMA painting conservator Jennifer Hickey.
Exhibition Schedule
SFMOMA, San Francisco
July 26, 2025–March 15, 2026
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
May 13, 2026–August 23, 2026
