Painting Abstract, With Senses and Traces of Reality

I met artist Sue Karnet in a way typical for New York – at a random ‘meet-up’ gathering of like-minded people searching for connection; we clicked when discussing art and our hearts filled with joy when we found out we also shared a Czech background. Her father, a Czech journalist and writer Jiri Karnet, settled in New York; Sue was born a New Yorker.

When I visit Sue at her studio, we can spend hours talking about everything related to art, the art history classes she teaches, what we struggle with in our work or whether it’s worth gallery hopping anytime soon. During my last visit in February, her studio was filled up with canvases and new sculptures of her popular series of Butoh Dancers. As she has been preparing the artworks for her upcoming exhibition at BBLA Gallery, I asked her a series of questions about her creative endeavors.

Photo: Artist Sue Karnet in her studio in East Village, 2013. Photo by Katerina Kyselica.

In Celebrating Print, Fantastic and Bizarre Triggered Imagination

When I met two years ago New York print dealer Marvin Bolotsky and learned about his vast collection of Central and Eastern European prints, I didn’t hesitate to offer a collaboration to exhibit Czech and Slovak prints at the BBLA Gallery. In January, we mounted an exhibition entitled “Celebrating Print: Masters of Czech and Slovak Printmaking” presenting at BBLA Gallery on Upper East Side unbelievable number of 58 works by 27 Czech and Slovak artists. Crème de la Crème.