It was on this date in 2000 that the North Dakota Museum of Art concluded an exhibition of pieces from artist/photographer Susan Fenton. Fenton was born January 11, 1949, in Philadelphia. In graduate school, she developed an artistic approach that involved photographing vignettes of toys and dolls and then painting the photos by hand. She went on to teach at multiple universities in the Pennsylvania area, but also worked internationally, teaching at St. Mary’s College in Rome and Temple University Japan before settling down at Philadelphia’s St. Joseph’s University in 1997.
Fenton was not a traditional photographer. She continued to use composed shots, adding emphasis to the prints with paint. Her subjects ranged from simple geometric forms to people wearing various items of clothing.
The exhibition in North Dakota focused on human figures and was a direct response to her time in Japan. The human subjects wore props, with the final product intended to address the contradictions within the Japanese culture, such as the struggle between ritualistic and fetishized, while still demonstrating the culture’s strength.
In a write-up about the North Dakota exhibition, Fenton described her process. “Technically my photographs are black and white silver prints, printed on fiber-based paper, that are brown-toned and then hand-painted with photographic oil pigments.”
While it’s been 19 years since the exhibit closed, a montage can still be viewed online. Simply search “Susan Fenton North Dakota.” But another visiting exhibit appears unlikely. Last year, not long after exhibiting in Guatemala, doctors discovered a fast-moving cancer. In November, Susan Fenton passed away at age 69.
Dakota Datebook written by Lucid Thomas
Sources:
https://www.creativityfuse.com/2011/01/susan-fenton/
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa150.htm
https://www.ndmoa.com/past-1999-susan-fenton
http://www.philly.com/obituaries/st-josephs-university-artist-susan-fenton-photography-20181206.html
