BLACK SUMMER Once upon a...fire

BLACK SUMMER Once upon a... fire

Dr Susana Enríquez 1

Cover: Black Summer II

Susana Enríquez PhD Painting

BLACK SUMMER Once upon a...

fire

December Gloucester, NSW, 2020

Black Summer Private collection This work was the first painting, which gave the name and was the beginning of this exhibition. It was part of For the Love of Art, an online auction organized by the Newcastle Art Gallery Foundation in September 2020.

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S

usana Enríquez has produced her most recent paintings as a direct response to the catastrophic bush fires devastating much of Australia during the summer of 2019–20. Vertical abstract paintings in vibrant reds and blacks convey a sense of flames climbing the trunks of forest trees and exploding in the canopy in incandescent yellow; dangerous, terrifying and strangely beautiful.

Closer inspection reveals how the paint is layered, with red embers beneath the charred bark; that what appears a spontaneous white-hot response to pity and terror is in fact a carefully constructed composition.

Emotion is still palpable, as raw as the conflicted paintings of Baselitz and the other German mid-century expressionists, whose visceral paintings Susana studied during a residency in Berlin with her husband, the celebrated Mexican violinist and composer Manuel Enriquez (1926-1994).

The couple moved between concert halls and art galleries in Europe and the Americas, meeting prominent people and distinguished fellow artists at receptions and gala events in a hectic schedule of performance and travel.

But now it is Susana’s choice to live quietly in Newcastle and spend her days painting in her large studio.

She still maintains close links with her native Mexico where she exhibits regularly. She comes, with a thorough art training, from a much more dramatic cultural background than we have in Australia, mingling the savagely religious heritage of Spain with thousands of years of highly developed indigenous cultures with their pyramids and bloodstained treasures.

Surely we should not be surprised to find vestiges of this powerful legacy in Susana’s veils of primary colour and her passion for black? Death and transfiguration could lurk in every shadow.

Jill Stowell March 2021

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Black summer... another day 2020

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BLACK SUMMER

Once upon a... fire

M

y exhibition is a visual diary of how my emotional valence was affected by the ubiquitous images of the worst bushfires in living memory in our country last summer (2019). Those images of despair and destruction were delivered by the news all day and every day. An overwhelming sense of despair consumed me. I felt immense empathy with people who fought bushfires, losing their homes, their animals and all the destruction that the flames left behind. As if that was not enough, we then had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the government-enforced social distancing restrictions and lockdowns, my negative emotions intensified, and I plummeted into a deep depression and anxiety. I found myself unable to lift a brush. Confined in my studio, I had an epiphany.

I was able to reflect and gain resilience. I channeled my feelings of anxiety into my art, which is my passion, to produce a collection of paintings that expressed my journey. The result is this exhibition.

I used red, black, and yellow to reference the bushfires and this country that I love dearly. As an abstract artist, I prefer to abstain from describing my artwork and allow the audience to find their freedom of interpretation.

The struggle is not over, but the future looks promising.

Dr Susana Enríquez Newcastle, NSW, Australia December 2020

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Wildfire

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Once upon a... fire

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Once upon a... fire II

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Luz interior

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Black Summer II

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Ominous Landscape

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The fire dance

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Escaping the blaze

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Escaping the blaze II

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Black Summer III

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An endless night

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No time for tears

Black summer IV

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Silk scarves

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Dr Susana Enriquez

20 Photo by Karl Brandstater, Merewether, Newcastle, 2020

SUSANA ENRIQUEZ

S

usana Enríquez (née Alfaro) was born in Mexico City. She studied music, drama and visual arts. In 1982 she lived in Berlin; after that residency, she changed art for music, enrolling at the Art School, obtaining a bachelor and M.A. degrees from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she acquired a deep knowledge of old masters painting techniques. In 1991, during a residency in California, she attended painting classes at the University of California in Los Angeles, UCLA. In 1997 she won a research grant from the National Council for Culture and the Arts in Mexico to create the first of its kind CD ROM with a complete musical archive of digital scores by Mexican Composer Manuel Enríquez.

Her nature is not passive. Her in situ knowledge of the art streams and other cultures through her trips worldwide has allowed her to define her idiosyncrasy and enrich her work.

Susana arrived in Australia in 2002 as an international student to pursue PhD studies at the University of Newcastle, Australia, which awarded her the IRS and UNPRS scholarships. She obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in October 2006.

Her interest in First Nations Australian Art took her to the Australian National University in 2008 and 2009, where she completed a postgraduate course in Australian Art history and curatorship. In parallel, in 2009, she won a curatorial internship at the National Gallery of Australia in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Art section. She gained experience in art handling, curatorial techniques and guide talks.

Susana’s work has featured in twenty-nine solo shows and thirty-two collective exhibitions, national and international. France, Spain, Greece, USA, Japan. Her work has been a finalist in significant art prize and biennial exhibitions. Her paintings are in private collections and institutions in Australia, Mexico, and overseas.

Her curriculum counts with several publications since 1999.

Until 2016 she was represented by Agora Gallery in New York, USA. In 2020, the organization Artists for Peace, founded in New York by Joel Thome, Phil Moffa, and Padmaja Ganapathy, invited Susana to present her work on their first edition. Artists for Peace are a bridge that promotes collaborations between artists of all nations.

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Selection) 2020

Black Summer, Once upon a… fire,

2006

Lyrical Digressions, pinturas, Tighs Hill Gallery,

Gloucester Art Gallery, NSW

Newcastle, Australia

2018

Beyond the Imagination, paintings, John Hunter

2006

Vivace PhD Exhibition, SOFA Gallery, The Uni-

Hospital, Newcastle

versity of Newcastle

2017

Vernisage, paintings, Susana Enriquez’s atelier,

2005

Painting Music, paintings, Tuggeranong Arts

Centre, Canberra, ACT.

Newcastle 2014

From Red to Mexican Pink, painting on handmade

2005

Reverberation Time, installation, paintings, Watt

paper, AWS gallery, Newcastle, Australia

Space, Newcastle

2014

Migración, Identidad y Memoría, photographic

2004

Espacios Sonoros, Paintings, Watt Space, Universi

exhibition, 8x10 Gallery, Sydney, Australia

ty Gallery, Newcastle, Australia

2012

Silence light, paintings, Nanshe Gallery, Newcas-

2004 Landscapes of Sound, work in progress, University

tle, Australia

2011

Tema y Variaciones, paintings, installation, draw-

2004 One hundred paintings, Visual Arts Building, New-

ings, Modern Art Museum Toluca, Mexico

2011

Rojo de Ultramar, paintings, Cultural Seminar

2003 Sounds and Colours, Tuggeranong Art Centre,

Gallery, Mexico

2009

An Intimate Likeness, portraits, paintings, John

Australia

Miller Gallery, Newcastle

2001

Homenaje a Manuel Enríquez, Casa de la Cultura,

2008

Vivace, painting, drawing and installation at

Ocotlán, Jalisco, México

Muswellbrook Art Gallery, Muswellbrook,

2000

Retrato de un compositor, Seminario de Cultura

Mexicana. México

Australia 2007

Whereaver it may lead, paisajes, John Miller Ga-

llery, Newcastle, Australia

of Newcastle Chancellery; Newcastle, Australia castle University, Australia.

National Multicultural Festival; Canberra,

GROUP SHOWS (Selection) 2020

Artist for Peace, https://www.artists4peace.

Drawing the Line, Postgraduate students exhi-

2005

org/home-oct-2020 2020

Online exhibition, Newcastle Writers’ Festival

2019

Newcastle Writer´s Festival, Back to Back

bition at School of Fine Art Gallery (SOFA) University of Newcastle 2005

XII Bienal Rufino Tamayo, Museo de Arte

Gallery 2018

Concerning Peace, painting, Maitland Regional

Contemporáneo, Oaxaca, Oax. México Small, a Touch of Colour, Back-to-Back Gallery,

2004

Art Gallery, Australia 2015

Masters of the Imagination: The Latin American

Newcastle, Australia 2004

Fine Art Exhibition, Agora Gallery, NY. New York 2007 2006

WOW, Women on Art, NCAC Art Gallery, Newcastle, Australia

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Japan, Japan, Watt Space, University of Newcastle, Australia

2004

Snap the Shot, Digital prints, Los Angeles Digital Art Centre, LACDA, USA

Just for Help, Matter Hospice, Newcastle, Australia

2003

Three Generations of Mexican Art, Canberra Grammar School Gallery, Canberra,

Australia

2003

The House Show, Von Bertoch Gallery New-

2003

Octavo Salón Independiente de Arte Erótico,

castle, Australia 2003

2003

Galería de Arte Contemporáneo y Diseño,

University of Newcastle Faculty, Staff & Student

Exhibition, College of Liberal Arts of the

1998

University of South Carolina, USA

1996

Puebla, México

Segunda Feria Universitaria de Arte, Museo Uni-

Destination Drawing, University of Fine Arts

versitario Contemporáneo de Arte, MUCA,

Sydney, Australia & Beijing, China 2003

Spirit and Art, Oia Gallery, Santorini, Greece

México, D.F.

Collectors Choice, Von Bertoch Gallery, Newcas-

Miniprint Internacional de Cadaqués, toured to

1996

tle, Australia

Spain, Japan, England and France Pintura Fresca, Jóvenes Pintores Latinoameri-

1992

canos, Galería Andre Malraux,Yerres, France

PRIZE EXHIBITIONS FINALIST Miniprint Internacional de Cadaqués,

2015

43 Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswell-

1997

brook Art Regional Gallery, NSW

España

2004

XII Bienal Rufino Tamayo, Museo

1996

Bienal Hermenegildo Bustos, Alhón-

Rufino Tamayo de Arte Contemporá

diga de Granaditas, Guanajuato, México

neo, Mexico City, Mexico Museo de

1991

Primera Bienal José Clemente Orozco,

Arte de Sinaloa, Museo de Arte de

Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara, México

Querétaro, Instituto Potosino de Be-

1990

llas Artes

2003

Annual Student Acquisition Art Prize,

1990

Watts Space Gallery Newcastle, Aus-

IV Bienal Diego Rivera, Museo del Pueblo, Guanajuato, México III Salón Anual de Miniestampa, Museo Nacional de la Estampa. México City

tralia

PUBLICATIONS Va de cuento - short stories – Creative Writing Colective – Ed. UNAM/CEPE Mexico

Voices of Mexico, CISAN-UNAM magazine, JanuaryMarch 2007 –Mexico City –

Migration: Identity and Memory – Susana Enríquez, interviews and Photographs of immigrant Latin-American women - 2014 Sponsored by the Australian Hispanic business woman network. https://issuu.com/punto618disenoeditorial/docs/identidad_y_memoria_final_alta_ok

Vivace, Susana Enriquez, PhD Exhibition Catalogue, University of Newcastle, 2006

Tema y Variaciones – Museo de Arte Moderno de Tolucacatalogue- Mexico, 2011

Hunter Life Style Magazine, “Life in the Hunter Region of New South Wales”, Issue 4 November October 2003- Interview Voices of Mexico, CISAN-UNAM, magazine, Number 61, October-December 2002-Mexico City –

Rojo de Ultramar – Catalogue, Seminario Mexicano de Cultura, Mexico 2011

Susana Enríquez - Gráfica Digital. Retrato de un compositor.

Homenaje a Manuel Enríquez, Catálogo CONACULTA- INBA, 2001

Private Dreams Public Collection Exhibition - Manolo Ruiz Pipó, Essay - Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia, February 2009

Heterofonia – Cenidim, quarterly music magazine, Fine Arts Institute – Mexico 2000 – MM1 Un Año de Diseñarte 1999, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. 1st. edition-Mexico City –

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BLACK SUMMER LIST OF WORKS

1. Wildfire

Acrylic on canvas

140 x 180 cm 2006/2019

2. Once upon a…fire*

Acrylic on canvas

100 x 80 cm 2006/2019

3. Once upon a…fire II*

Acrylic on canvas

100 x 80 cm 2020

4. Luz interior

Acrylic on canvas

105 x 150 2019/2020

5. Black Summer II*

Acrylic on canvas

122 x 91 cm 2020

6. Black Summer III*

Acrylic/ polyester

90 x 60 cm 2020

7. Ominous landscape*

Acrylic on polyester

triptych 70 x 60 cm (70 x 20 cm each panel) 2020

Acrylic on canvas 60 x 80 cm 2020

10. An endless night*

Acrylic on canvas

91 x 122 cm 2019/2020

11. Black Summer, another day…*

Oil on canvas

150 x 105 2020

12. No time for tears

Oil on canvas

45 x 45 cm 2020

13. Escaping the blaze*

Acrylic on wood

120 x 100 cm 2020

14. Escaping the blaze II

Acrylic on wood

120 x 100 cm 2020

15. Silk scarves**

10x100cm 2020

8. The fire dance Acrylic on canvas Variable polyptych (four panels) 2020

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9. Black Summer IV *

* Photos: Bettina Damme ** Photos: Miranda Lawry

http://susanaenriquezart.com susanaenriquezart Diseño editorial: Gabriela Serralde ¥

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