Don Suggs (March 16, 1945 – July 30, 2019) was an American artist based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. His paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures are notable for their use of color.

Biography

Suggs was born in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and grew up in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He received a B.A. in 1969 from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), having studied psychology, film, and art. He received both an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1971 and an M.F.A. in Art in 1972 from UCLA. Suggs taught drawing, painting, sculpture and color theory from 1972-1984 at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

Franconia College Franconia College was a small experimental liberal arts college in Franconia, New Hampshire, United States. It opened in 1963 in Dow Academy and the site of the Forest Hills Hotel on Agassiz Road, and closed in 1978, after years of declining en ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, and

Otis Art Institute Otis College of Art and Design is a Private university, private Art school, art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is l ...

. From 1983-2014, he taught painting and drawing at UCLA. Over the years, he has been co-editor with Paul Vangelisti of several non-profit art and literature publications: ''Boxcar'', ''Forehead'', and ''Ribot''. He published four art and poetry books, collaborating with Paul Vangelisti and Martha Ronk. Suggs lived and worked in

. He died on July 30, 2019, after being struck by a vehicle while walking.

Career

During his career, Suggs has worked in three to five year periods with a particular style. Suggs' major bodies of work include ''Passions'', ''Autochthonous Views'', ''Proprietary Views'', ''Portraits'', ''Old Genres'', ''Heuristic Paintings'', ''Tondototems'', ''Paint Ons'' and ''Feastpoles''. Suggs' work is widely varied, including

geometric abstraction Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. Although the genre was popu ...

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

conceptualism In metaphysics, conceptualism is a theory that explains universality of particulars as conceptualized frameworks situated within the thinking mind. Intermediate between nominalism and realism, the conceptualist view approaches the metaphysical ...

photorealism Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can b ...

and pop art. Due to this he has been described as "an artist's artist".

Meg Linton Meg Linton is an American curator of contemporary art and a writer. Her curatorial efforts have ranged from historical investigations such as "Doin’ It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman’s Building" (part of the Getty’s initiative Paci ...

. ''Don Suggs: One Man Group Show'' Media Release (Los Angeles, CA: Otis College of Art and Design, Ben Maltz Gallery, June 2006): 1.

Awards

Suggs was awarded the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

grant in both 1973 and 1991.

Exhibitions

Since 1970, Suggs' works have been included in many solo and group exhibitions across the United States. His work is represented by

L.A. Louver L.A. Louver is an art gallery focusing on American and European contemporary art. The gallery is located in Venice, Los Angeles, California, United States. Directors The gallery directors are Peter Goulds, Kimberly Davis, and Elizabeth East. Li ...

gallery in Venice, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suggs, Don American contemporary painters 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters Painters from California 1945 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors Sculptors from California