SCROLL DOWN

ABOUT

The works of Suzann Victor prospect the contours of human sensorial experience, perception and phenomena by mining materials from the body, the elements of light and water to the science of physics, alongside engineered components and the readymade. Through performances of vulnerability, acts of collective labour, installations or public artworks, Victor emboldens the significance of sites, spaces and architecture by transforming them into immersive environments that draw awareness to the viewer’s own body as an investigative tool for apprehending the world at large.

The first female artist to represent Singapore at its inaugural showing in the 49th Venice Biennale (2001), Victor was the concept-developer of 5th Passage, one of Southeast Asia’s earliest feminist artist-initiative (1991-1996) to generate new art audiences from Singapore’s de facto community centre - the shopping mall - by tapping two resources at hand: the readymade public within the readymade public space. As the country’s first corporate-sponsored art spaces (Parkway Parade and Pacific Plaza), 5th Passage also set the precedence of reaching out to the public long before “outreach” became a mainstay of local art institutions to come.

Victor’s works have been commissioned for presentation beyond Venice in notable exhibitions including the 6th Havana Biennale, 2nd Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, the 6th Gwangju Biennale, the 4th Singapore Biennale, Shaping Geographies: Woman | Art | Southeast Asia (Gajah Gallery), Text and Subtext (2000-2005) Sydney-Stockholm-Oslo-China and Thermocline of Art (ZKM Center of Art and Media, Karlsruhe). Her public artworks are sited in high-profile locations including World Square, Sydney and the National Museum of Singapore. In 2009, she was awarded the New York-based Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship Residency (Umbria, Italy). Victor was singled out from the Sunshower Exhibition (National Art Center Tokyo & Mori Art Museum) by the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum for two special artist residencies in 2017 and 2018. She received her MA & BA (1st Class Hons) and completed her doctorate in 2009 at the University of Western Sydney, supported by the Australian Postgraduate Award & the UWS Top Up Award. Victor’s works reside in numerous public and private collections worldwide.

READ MORE