Su Schnee at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in October, 1992

by Jack Ruttan

First published in the Montreal Mirror

 Su Schnee takes risks with her art that aren't immediately apparent. Her colours, though vivid, other artists use. Her long paintings pass in front of the eye like a soothing river. No, the risks are in her approach. She paints how she feels even though everyone might not approve, or feel that it's "smart" to do that.

 There are many overtly political messages surrounding her work. First, there is a label by the gallery's entrance dedicating the show to the Mohawks involved in last summer's siege. Then there are the stories printed in a booklet which accompanies the four large paintings. These are tales told by a wise old tree to a ring of children, and they have a very obvious ecological theme.

 Schnee has never put these stories out before, despite the fact they were an intimate part of the creation of her art. She would make up the stories as she painted, speaking to herself about her characters as they took shape under her brush. Afterwards she felt the tales might be thought "not literary enough."

 As well, an art journal six years ago questioned the sincerity of paintings she made of people in New Guinea. The criticism made her nervous about wrong interpretations, but now she is less worried about being acceptable. The stories justify the paintings, as does her life. She speaks in an interview of her roots in the '60's, of living in a commune, of attending "Women's Lib" meetings. She talks about her time spent travelling, the three months of the years she spends in the wilds of this country. A wall of the gallery displays objects picked up on these camping trips. As for the Mohawks, she spent last summer with them. All of these things goes into her art, and she is not ashamed of it.

 Nor should she be. We may have heard before what she says, but how can we think we have learned these lessons?

 Perhaps the only thing that gets in the way of her intent is the gallery space itself. Without dividing walls to break it up, the Saidye Bronfman gallery is wide and cold. Perfect perhaps for a show of minimalist art, but the pictures, even though large, would look happier in a more intimate setting. There are no chairs, so the viewer is forced to stand in front of the painting and read a long tale from a booklet. There should be seats of some kind, and maybe there could have been a "presenter" to tell the story, or headphones playing tape recordings.

 Still, if you read the stories and look at the pictures long enough, figures you hadn't noticed before start to show themselves. Then there are the autumn trees outside the large windows over the paintings. When the sun falls on the yellow leaves, it's like the colours melt and flow into the pictures. The wise old tree would probably like that

Links to Galleries in Montreal

Copyright (c) Jack Ruttan, 2003