ABOUT
Susan Begy is an interdisciplinary U.S. artist interested in the shared aspects of being human. She creates graphite drawings of large, twisted forms made up of smaller images. Using similar twisted forms, she makes carved stone sculptures, sometimes incorporating other materials such as steel, glass, or found objects. Begy’s work explores power dynamics, polarity, hypocrisy, and productive cooperation. Her sculptures and drawings, simultaneously elegant and uncomfortable, often reflect upon nurturance and conflict. Her collaborative projects playfully reimagine human interactions and institutions.
Begy was a recipient of a Genesee Valley Council on the Arts grant as well as a finalist for a 2015 Creative Capital grant in Emerging Fields for Econival, a carnivalesque interactive event based on economics. The project was featured in its research and development stage on Creative Capital’s ‘On Our Radar’ in 2016. She created Art Collision & Repair Shop, in which teams of artists transform the unfinished or "stalled" work of other artists. The project debuted at Center for Contemporary Art Santa Fe in 2014-15 and was a coalescing force in the Santa Fe art community.
In 2010, Begy earned her MFA in Fine Art from School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her works have been exhibited in contemporary art centers and galleries in the U.S. and Europe. She has co-founded and co-directed artist-run exhibition spaces in Los Angeles and Brooklyn. She has taught at Syracuse University and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Begy currently lives and runs her Curious Alien Studio in Rochester, NY.
CV
SUSAN BEGY
EDUCATION
2010 MFA Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
1984 BA Studio Art, magna cum laude, Western State College of Colorado
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2026
Saints Preserve Us, The Yards, Rochester, NY, curated by Cielo Ornelas MacFarlane, Laurie MacFarlane, and Rivkah Simcha
2025
Made in NY, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY, curated by David MacDonald and Sayward
Schoonmaker
2024
Entanglement: Completed, 402 Collaborative Gallery, Rochester, NY
2022
Come Together, curated by Bleu Cease, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
Uplifting, Connecting, Rising, curated by Emireth Herrara, El Barrio Artspace PS109, New York, NY
Wishbones, curated by Annalisa Barron, Writers & Books, Rochester, NY
INflection of LIVING, curated by Bibi Flores, 1922 Gallery, solo online exhibition
2021
Voices of Women in Art = Inside and Out, curated by Bibi Flores, 1922 Gallery, online exhibition
2017
Cryin’ Out Loud, curated by Micol Hebron, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2016
Outer Local, curated by Scuba, David Richard Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
DISPATCH, presented by SCUBA and Strangers Collective, ART.i.factory, Santa Fe, NM
We the Extranimals (solo), Axle Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2015
Art Collision & Repair Shop, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2014
Hot Mess, curated by Kathryn M Davis, Offroad Productions, Santa Fe, NM
Used, Gallery Zipp, Glorieta, NM
2013
Hopscotch, collaboration with Sasha Sumner, curated by Radhika Subramaniam, Art in Odd Places: Number, New York, NY
veiled (solo), Eggman & Walrus, Santa Fe, NM
structural mischief, pop-up, Santa Fe, NM
2012
Ladies and Gentlemen, curated by Maria Jose Duran Steinman, The Tree: Nomadic Art Initiatives, New York, NY
dos XX’s, with Rachel Fainter & Colleen Ford, The Shirey, Brooklyn, NY
primordial soup, pop-up exhibition, Brooklyn, NY
2011
Spontaneous Combustion, Gallery Zipp, Santa Fe, NM
2010
Plus One, curated by Dan Cameron, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, NY
That’s Just It, curated by Stephen Maine, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY
Thanks…but it’s actually on purpose, curated by Augusto Arbizo, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Le Prix de la Sculpture Noilly Prat, ArtParis, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2008
Group Exhibition, The Edge Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2005
Topanga Canyon Gallery Juried Open, juror Patricia Howard, Topanga, CA
2004
California Landscapes, California Heritage Museum, Santa Monica, CA
Group Exhibition, California State University at Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
Inaugural Exhibition, Satsuma Gallery, North Hollywood, CA
Got the Blues, Topanga Canyon Gallery, Topanga, CA
Taming of the Elements, with Laurent Diemer, Topanga Canyon Gallery, Topanga, CA
2003
The Written Word, Topanga Canyon Gallery, Topanga, CA
2002
Topanga Canyon Gallery Juried Open, juror Patricia Correia, Los Angele, CA
2000
Where Are the Best Painters in Rochester, Gallery at High Falls, Rochester, NY
Group Exhibition, Elizabeth Collection, Rochester, NY
1996
National Exhibition of Women’s Works on Paper VI, Shoestring Gallery, Rochester, NY
1993
National Exhibition of Women’s Works on Paper III, Shoestring Gallery, Rochester, NY
The Series and the Found Object, Angel Fire Gallery, Rochester, NY
1991
Utopian Ideas and Multiple Realities, collaboration with Ann Clarke, Pyramid Arts Center, Rochester, NY
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS
2023 Grant, NY State Council on the Arts, administered by Genesee Valley Council on the Arts
2023 Artist in Residence, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
2022 Grant for Wishbones sculpture project, Awesome Grant
2022 Artist in Residence, Writers & Books, Rochester, NY
2022-24 Adjunct Faculty, Drawing, Painting, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
2022 Adjunct Faculty, Composition & Color Theory, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY
2016 Grant finalist for Creative Capital in Energing Fields for Econival, an interactive, collaborative carnival event that
investigates financial structures. Featured in Creative Capital’s On Our Radar site.
2015 The Mechanics of Making Art, panel discussion, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2014-15 Creator, Co-Curator, Project Manager of Art Collision & Repair Shop, a collaborative community project inspired by late father’s auto body shop in which artists repair the “stalled” work of other artists, culminated in exhibition at Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, NM
2013 Curator, per square foot, The Shirey, Brooklyn, NY
2011-19 Co-Director, The Shirey, a shared studio and not-for-profit exhibition space curating and promoting the work of emerging artists in Bushwick, Brooklyn
2012-13 Curatorial Fellow, Art in General, New York, NY
2010 Installation Intern, No Longer Empty, New York, NY
2009 International sculpture prize, Le Prix de la Sculpture Noilly Prat, Paris, France
2004-05 Co-Director, Topanga Canyon Gallery, Topanga, CA
2003-05 Co-Founder, Co-Director, Satsuma Gallery, North Hollywood, CA
1996 National Exhibition of Women’s Works on Paper VI, Juror Award, Rochester, NY
BIBLIOGRAPY
Sienna Facciolo interview, The Process podcast, Rochester, NY January 10, 2024
Graphic Ear interview, WAYO radio, Rochester, NY, February 2, 2023
Susan Begy’s Mural ‘Entanglement’ Connects Rochester’s Arts Community, City Newspaper, November 2022
Rochester First interview, WROC-TV, Rochester, NY, May 12, 2022
Good Day Rochester interview, WHAM-TV, Rochester, NY, April 29, 2022
Evan Dawson interview, WXXI radio, Rochester, NY, April 22, 2022
[Art] Worlds Collide, Santa Fe Reporter November 2014
The Zen of Art-Upcycling Maintenance: A Show of Teamwork, Santa Fe New Mexican, November 2014
You’ve Got Veil, Santa Fe Reporter, April 2013
California Canyon: Short Essays on Artists of Topanga, video, 2004
Topanga Messenger, April 2004
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, October 1996
Lake Effect Magazine, May 1996
Upstate New Yorker Magazine, February 1994
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, March 1993
Mountain Thought Review, Spring 1984
COLLECTIONS
Noilly Prat, Marseilles, France
CT USA Bank, Naples, FL
Western State College of Colorado, Gunnison, CO