Suzanne Jackson: What is Love
Edited by Jenny Gheith
With contributions by Kellie Jones, Paulina Pobocha, Tiffany E. Barber, Taylor Renee Aldridge, Taylor Jasper, Molly Garfinkel and Jodi Waynberg, and Meredith George Van Dyke
288 pages, 9.5 x 11 inches, hardcover
Published in 2025
Suzanne Jackson: What Is Love celebrates the groundbreaking artistic vision of painter Suzanne Jackson (b. 1944). Surveying the full breadth of her six-decade career, this comprehensive book spans from her early ethereal compositions on canvas to recent three-dimensional paintings that suspend acrylic paint midair. Essays illuminate key facets of Jackson’s wide-ranging practice, considering the influence of her experiences as a dancer, poet, and theater designer; exploring her work’s deep connections with nature, environmentalism, performance, feminism, and Black and Native traditions; and highlighting her commitment to community action and the relationships she forged while running her trailblazing Los Angeles art space Gallery 32 (1968–70).
Dialogues between Jackson and fellow artists Senga Nengudi, Betye Saar, and the late Fred Eversley and Richard Mayhew, along with a conversation between Jackson and SFMOMA paintings conservator Jennifer Hickey, engage key themes and concerns in Jackson’s work, while chronology texts and a range of photos and ephemera from the artist’s personal collection highlight the environments, people, and influences that have shaped her art.
Published by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in association with Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, to accompany the exhibition co-organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (September 27, 2025–March 1, 2026) and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (May 14–Aug 23, 2026).
ISBN 9780691261997 (hardcover)