Susan Siegel in the ‘New York Academy of Art Annual Exhibition’ at Flowers Gallery

The New York Academy of Art’s annual summer exhibition brings together a variety of artwork for sale at accessible prices – a rare proposition in Chelsea’s booming mega-gallery scene. Susan Siegel’s ‘Big Hair’ is a tiny painting at eight by eight inches, but it packs a humorous punch. Substituting a cow for one of the delicate creatures normally populating Baroque painting, Siegel subverts our pleasure in consuming images of excess. (At Flowers Gallery through July 15th).

Susan Siegel, Big Hair, oil on panel, 8 x 8 inches, 2017.

Susan Siegel at the 2013 Fashion District Arts Festival

One of the highlights for me of last weekend’s 2013 Fashion District Arts Festival was discovering Susan Siegel’s fantastical oil paintings of domesticated animals playing the role of well-appointed Gainsborough-like ladies and gents in lush natural settings.  Siegel excels at giving her subjects subtly readable personalities in works that gently poke fun at the excesses of 18th century self-fashioning.  

Susan Siegel, Solitary Goat (Blue), 30” x 24”, oil on canvas, 2011.