Sources & Resources

Suzy Lake has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since the early 1970s, with important early career solo exhibitions in Montreal and Toronto (at commercial galleries, artist-run centres, and museums) and, through the past four decades, significant exhibitions that have toured across Canada. In 2014 she had a major retrospective, Introducing Suzy Lake, at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), which was accompanied by an extensive catalogue. In 2017 she was honoured with an exhibition at the Ryerson Image Centre as part of her Scotiabank Photography Award win. She has also participated in important group exhibitions internationally, notably exhibitions on feminist art, including WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution in 2007 and, more recently, WOMAN: The Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s, Works from the Sammlung Verbund (Vienna). She continues to exhibit, and is represented by Toronto dealer Georgia Scherman.

Key Solo Exhibitions

Select Group Exhibitions

Performances

Although predominantly a visual artist whose work often represents performances for the camera, Lake has occasionally performed as herself or in the character of Suzy Spice. Her early performance experimentations were held in her studio but have gone on to be considered important early works in her oeuvre.

Major Publications/Catalogues

Brower, Matthew, Carla Garnet, and Dot Tuer. Suzy Lake: Political Poetics. Toronto: University of Toronto Art Centre, University of Toronto Press, 2011.

Hanna, Martha. Suzy Lake: Point of Reference. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, 1993.

Jenkner, Ingrid. Authority Is an Attribute… part 2, essays by Gerta Moray, Mary LaRonde, and David Kilgour. Guelph, ON: Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, 1991.

Lake, Suzy. Suzy Lake: Performing an Archive, Dazibao Book Prize. Montreal and London, UK: Black Dog Publishing, 2015.

Reckitt, Helena, and Georgiana Uhlyarik. Suzy Lake, Scotiabank Photography Award. Toronto and Gottingen, Germany: Scotiabank and Steidl, 2018.

Uhlyarik, Georgiana, ed. Introducing Suzy Lake. London, UK: Black Dog Publishing, 2014.

Articles about Suzy Lake

Baird, Daniel. “Self-Inventions: The Photography of Suzy Lake.” Border Crossings, no. 119 (September 2011), http://bordercrossingsmag.com/article/self-inventions-the-photography-of-suzy-lake.

Enright, Robert. “The Many Faces of Suzy Lake.” Border Crossings, no. 132 (December 2014): 30.

Kustanczy, Catherine. “The Many Faces of Suzy Lake.” Hyperallergic (February 26, 2015), http://hyperallergic.com/185709/the-many-faces-of-suzy-lake/.

Lamy, Laurent. “Suzy Lake par Suzy Lake: Images et métaphores.” Vie des arts 20, no. 78 (1975): 32–33.

Meagher, Michelle. “Against the Invisibility of Old Age: Cindy Sherman, Suzy Lake, and Martha Wilson.” Feminist Studies 40, no. 1 (January 2014): 101–43.

Pontbriand, Chantal. “Suzy Lake: A Genuine Simulation of…” Montreal: Véhicule Co-op Press, 1975.

Interviews with Suzy Lake

Clarke, Bill, and Suzy Lake. “Suzy Lake: Interview with a Maker of Change.” Canadian Art 29, no. 4 (2013): 110.

Enright, Robert, and Suzy Lake. “Researching the Self: Robert Enright Interviews Suzy Lake.” Border Crossings 13, no. 1 (January 1994): 12–20.

Goodden, Sky, and Suzy Lake. “The Difficulty in Distilling Suzy Lake.” Momus (March 23, 2015), http://momus.ca/interview-the-difficulty-in-distilling-suzy-lake/.

Ironside, Chris, and Suzy Lake. “Suzy Lake: Renaissance Woman.” Magenta Magazine 2, no. 1 (Winter 2011), http://mag.magentafoundation.org/5/features/suzy-lake.

Documentary and Video about Suzy Lake

Caines, Cliff. Suzy Lake: Visual Artist and 2016 Canada Council Laureate, 2016. 4:00 min.

Mangaard, Annette. Suzy Lake: Playing with Time, 2014. 61:48 min.