研究NOTE | Suzan Frecon 苏珊·弗雷孔

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策展人研究笔记

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Suzan Frecon

苏珊·弗雷孔

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艺术家 | About the Artist

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苏珊·弗雷孔（Suzan Frecon, b.1941）生于上世纪战时的墨西哥宾夕法尼亚州，现工作生活于纽约。弗雷孔是现如今极具影响力的美洲当代抽象艺术家之一，她的绘画作品以流畅的单色平面几何形状著称，对于色彩、形式以及材料质地的运用反映了弗雷孔对艺术与哲学间的有机关联的思考，而这些深入浅出的概念也往往能够引起观者的感官共鸣。

Stone Cathedral (detail), 2019, oil on linen

苏珊·弗雷孔的绘画作品主要以纸上水彩和奇妙的可以引发人们沉浸其中的大型抽象油画闻名，然而自1980年代后期患病时起，她更多地专注于不需要太多体力劳动的较小尺幅的水彩画创作。对于艺术，弗雷孔坚信，那是一种远远超越了文字和语言可表述范畴的超然体验，无论对创作者还是对观赏者来说皆是如此。

纵观弗雷孔漫长的创作生涯是十分深刻的。她创造了一个需要观众独立依靠自己的双眼、释放身心并全神贯注投入充足的时间与精力才能够真正享受的极致纯粹的视觉世界。通过提倡一种纯粹的视觉沉思体验，弗雷孔探索和选择的或许是一个会令多数观众感到冷僻和不适的叙事立场，体验者会在“视觉沉思”的过程中寻找到有所触动的属于各自的“艺术故事”。

艺术家简历 | CV

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苏珊·弗雷孔 | Suzan Frecon

Born 1941 in Mexico, Pennsylvania.Lives and works in New York.
Education1963-1966 École nationale superiéure des Beaux-Arts, Paris1962 Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France1959-1963 B.F.A., Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
Solo Exhibition2020Suzan Frecon: oil paintings, David Zwirner, New York [catalogue]2019Julia Haft-Candell / Suzan Frecon, parrasch heijnen gallery, Los Angeles [two-person exhibition]2018Suzan Frecon, David Zwirner, Hong Kong2017Suzan Frecon: watercolors and small oil paintings, David Zwirner, London, concurrent with recent oil paintings, David Zwirner, New York [catalogue published in 2018]2015Suzan Frecon: oil paintings and sun, David Zwirner, New York [catalogue]2014Ruth Laskey & Suzan Frecon, Ratio 3, San Francisco [two-person exhibition]2013Suzan Frecon: paper, David Zwirner, New YorkSuzan Frecon: paper, Lawrence Markey, San Antonio, TexasSuzan Frecon, Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels2010Suzan Frecon: recent painting, David Zwirner, New York [catalogue]2008form, color, illumination: Suzan Frecon painting, The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas [itinerary: Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland] [catalogue]2007Suzan Frecon: recent painting, Lawrence Markey, San Antonio, Texas [catalogue]2006Suzan Frecon: Watercolors – Works on Paper from the Collection of Drawings and Prints, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland2005Suzan Frecon: Paintings, Peter Blum, New York2004Suzan Frecon: Recent Watercolors, Lawrence Markey, New York2004Suzan Frecon: paintings, Lawrence Markey, New York2002Suzan Frecon: drawing painting, The Drawing Center, New York [catalogue]2001Suzan Frecon: paintings, Lawrence Markey, New York2000Suzan Frecon, Galerie Friedrich, Bern, Switzerland1999Suzan Frecon. Recent work: Oil and Watercolor, Lawrence Markey, New YorkSuzan Frecon: terre rouge, paintings, Galerie Philippe Casini, ParisWorks on Paper: Suzan Frecon, Galerie Franck + Schulte, Berlin1998Suzan Frecon: The Form Carries the Purpose of Illumination, Häusler Kunst Projekte, Munich[catalogue Suzan Frecon: Paintings published in 1999]Suzan Frecon: Works on Paper, Galerij S65, Aalst, Belgium1996Suzan Frecon: Recent Painting, Lawrence Markey, New YorkSuzan Frecon: Recent Watercolors, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York1995Suzan Frecon, Galerie Franck + Schulte, BerlinSuzan Frecon, Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe, Germany1994Suzan Frecon: Works Relating to Painting, 1988-1994, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific FilmArchive, University of California [catalogue]Suzan Frecon: Zeitgenost, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland1993Suzan Frecon: Painting, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New YorkSuzan Frecon: Painting, Lawrence Markey, New YorkSuzan Frecon, Galerie Friedrich, Bern, Switzerland1992Paintings: Suzan Frecon, Galerie Franck + Schulte, BerlinSuzan Frecon: Paintings and Drawings, Galerie L’A, Liege, BelgiumSuzan Frecon: Watercolors, Lawrence Markey, New York1990Suzan Frecon: Passages, ARG Art Prospective Gèneve, Geneva [catalogue]Suzan Frecon/Vaclav Pozarek: Arbeiten auf Papier/Works on Paper, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland [two-person exhibition]1989Matrix/Berkeley 121: Suzan Frecon, University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley[exhibition brochure]Suzan Frecon, Emily Sorkin Gallery, New YorkSuzan Frecon, Julian Pretto/Berland-Hall Gallery, New York1988Suzan Frecon, Julian Pretto Gallery, New York1987Suzan Frecon, C-Space, New York1986Suzan Frecon, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland [catalogue] [two-person exhibition with Ernst Caramelle]1984Suzan Frecon, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York1982Suzan Frecon, 108 Wooster Street, New York [installation with Ernst Caramelle]Suzan Frecon, The Parallel Window, New York1981Suzan Frecon, John Davis Gallery, Akron, Ohio1980Suzan Frecon: Paintings, John Davis Gallery, Akron, Ohio1974Suzan Frecon and Michel Durand, The Longwood Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston [two-person exhibition]

Selected Group Exhibition

2021Pure Form, David Zwirner, New York2020EFAbstract, EFA Project Space, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York2019Di fuochi e accesi sensi: painting, Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels2018David Zwirner: 25 Years, David Zwirner, New York [catalogue]in Tribute to Jack Tilton: A Selection from 35 years, Tilton Gallery, New York2017SPLIT, Zürcher Gallery, New YorkThread Benefit Exhibition, David Zwirner, New York201665 Works Selected by James Welling: Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the Foundation forContemporary Arts, David Zwirner, New YorkArchitecture of Life, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California,Berkeley [catalogue]Big Art/Small Scale, Philip Slein Gallery, St. Louis2015Embracing Modernism: Ten Years of Drawings Acquisitions, The Morgan Library & Museum,New YorkGroup Show: 826NYC Exhibition & Auction, David Zwirner, New YorkSelections from The Kramarsky Collection, David Zwirner, New York [collection display]2014The Age of Small Things, DODGE gallery, New YorkColor Shift, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence, The Menil Collection, Houston,Texas [itinerary: Musée international de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge, Geneva] [catalogue]Internal Dialogues, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New YorkPaintings on Paper, David Zwirner, New YorkReductive Minimalism: Women Artists in Dialogue, 1960-2014, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor [catalogue]2013Accrochage XI, Galerie Greta Meert, BrusselsArt at the Core: The Intersection of Visual Art, Performance & Technology, Hudson Valley, Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, New YorkInner Focus: Tantric Drawings and Works on Paper, Anthony Slayter-Ralph, Valley Glen, CaliforniaJulian Pretto Gallery, Minus Space, BrooklynUncanny Congruencies, The Palmer Museum of Art, Penn State University, Philadelphia [catalogue]2012Accrochage X, Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels2011Abstract Now, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California201040, Texas Gallery, Houston, Texas2010: The Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York [catalogue] Earth Paint Paper Wood: Recent Acquisitions, The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas The Shape of Abstraction, Boston University Art Gallery [catalogue]
Public CollectionsArkansas Art Center, Little RockArt Institute of ChicagoBerkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California  Birmingham Museum of Art, AlabamaDiözesanmuseum, Freising, GermanyHarvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MassachusettsKrannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign Kunstmuseum Bern, SwitzerlandThe Menil Collection, Houston, TexasThe Morgan Library & Museum, New YorkThe Museum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Modern Art, New YorkNational Gallery of Art, Washington, DCSan Francisco Museum of Modern ArtStaatliche Graphische Sammlung, MunichWhitney Museum of American Art, New YorkYale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

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作品 | About Artworks

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“太阳与石头” 

Sun & Stones 

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Yellow Lantern, 2018, oil on linen; overall: 87 1/2 x 108 x 1 1/2 inches; each panel: 87 1/2 x 54 x 1 1/2 inches

2020年的夏季纽约成为了几何抽象艺术领域的女性艺术家盛会，与Covid、BLM同样值得关注。我们能够回溯的名单有：Miles McEnery画廊的Beverly Fishman，佩斯画廊的Torkwase Dyson，里森画廊的Carmen Herrara，以及卓纳画廊的苏珊·弗雷孔/Suzan Frecon。

苏珊·弗雷孔从1970年代（极简主义鼎盛时期）开始绘画。与拒绝所有矩形的Robert Mangold和错综线性的Brice Marden相比，弗雷孔将严格的绘画参数与形而上的思考付诸于优雅的色彩与形式，在延续性探索其接近现代建筑规模的柔和几何抽象的同时，灵巧地运用消解和表现手法进行绘画。

Mars Stealing the Night, 2019, oil on linen; overall: 87 1/2 x 108 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches; each panel: 87 1/2 x 54 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches

弗雷孔的这些画，既是基于油画材料的二维表现，又是感官上超凡的体验。出现于画布上半部分的椭圆形与画面其他部分并不能够组成传统美学上的对称关系，但却因其在形式上不可思议地降解了视觉主体与背景的关系，使正负形色块看起来刚好处于平衡可互换的稳定关系下，并使观者进入一种近乎真空的、瞬间与永恒并存的超现实世界中。

Stone Cathedral, 2019, oil on linen; overall size: 108 1/2 x 87 5/8 x 1 1/2 inches; each panel: 54 1/4 x 87 5/8 x 1 1/2 inches

艺术家会不断地绘制小草图，在这些反复练习的草图中重复尝试某些图案。比如，《石头大教堂 | Stone Cathedral》（2019）这件作品就是一幅包含了此类图案的画作，同时它也是弗雷孔的绘画中罕见的清楚暗示了前中后景的代表作。在这件作品的顶部，艺术家绘制了一片沼泽绿的“田野”，位于构图中线上方的是两个“拱门”，分别填充以棕红色的“罗马式（Romanesque）”和亮橙色的“哥德式（Gothic）”；下半部分，圆形的深海蓝色的“海藻”正从画面底部侵入尘土飞杨的“玫瑰田”，就像在岸上冲浪一样。

每种图式都将相对的重量与密度动态地旋转递进至下一层，最终形成了一件用形式和颜色创建平面凹凸空间的“二维雕塑”。弗雷孔的画暗含一切自我又共通的视觉想象，因而可以为观者创造出一种冥想式的、自然而又超然的体验。

Catherdral Series, Variation 8, 2011

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色块图案

Color Bricks and Forms 

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2019年，78岁的弗雷孔去了法国普罗旺斯——塞尚曾经居住过的地方，创作和生活了一段时间。在那里她看到了塞尚的工作室和反复出现在他画中的圣维克多山。与弗雷孔最喜爱的、她称之为“最好的画家之一”的Louise Fishman一样，尽管Fishman探索的是将自己的作品与身份认同以及传统文化联系在一起，但塞尚和Louise的绘画都没有在讲述任何“故事”，而这也是弗雷孔最为之心醉和敬仰的“绘画的真实感”。

quadrants and fans composition generated by paper support (4), 2014

“我在来这里之前其实所谓绘画的道路已经非常完善了。我确实很喜欢给予我灵感的圆顶山，它就是球形的一半，但那是我来到这里之前年复一年在做的事。当然后来我发现自己仍然喜欢与我的绘画形式有关的山峰形状，因为山是我们的肉眼所能见证的’永恒力量’的一部分。

vivid green composition on a long format, 2016

除此以外，建筑作为艺术的一个门类也必然地影响了我的创作。例如Fulcanelli在其1922年所著《大教堂之谜（The Mystery of the Cathedrals）》一书中描述了原始大教堂是如何多彩。这个视角令我非常兴奋，于是乎我开始考虑如何将颜色因素揉合进我的形式与概念中。”

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展览 | Exhibitions Review

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Oil Paintings 

David Zwirner, New YorkSeptember 10—October 17, 2020

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Installation view, Suzan Frecon: Oil Paintings, David Zwirner, New York, 2020此次展览中的九幅画作仅在自然光下展示，没有额外的人工增强灯。对此，画廊确有合乎逻辑的解释：展览挑选的作品主要由使用了原始颜料和亚麻油混制而成的双联油画组成，画面依靠深棕色调和偶尔出现的鲜橙色，以微妙的稀薄画法涂饰，因此画作表面具有一定光泽和不透明性，自然光状态下更接近于文艺复兴时期的观看方式，观众更能够欣赏到古典油画材料与技法带来的光泽与哑光并存的表面，同时沉浸于抽象极简的静谧世界。

Installation view, Suzan Frecon: Oil Paintings, David Zwirner, New York, 2020

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撰文 / Jason Stopa

翻译、校对 / roxy

© All images courtesy the artist and David Zwirner

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