LOS ANGELES-BASED PAINTER SUSAN LIZOTTE TO HAVE HER DEBUT SOLO SHOW IN
NEW YORK CITY WITH “LOS ANGELES: A DIFFERENT NARRATIVE”
“The West has always been a place to begin anew, a place of dreams. And yet, it is a city of duality, with weather of catastrophe bookending the dreams.” – Susan Lizotte
Los Angeles-based painter Susan Lizotte’s “Los Angeles: A Different Narrative” is a painting series about the duality of life in Los Angeles. The exhibition marks Lizotte’s debut solo show in York City. It opens at Dacia Gallery (53 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002) on Thursday, October 10 with an artist’s reception from 6-8PM, and runs through October 20.
A city of dreams often depicted by David Hockney’s iconic swimming pools, a place that he has described as “the most beautiful city in the world,” Los Angeles is also known for weather of catastrophe. Lizotte’s paintings are about the fragility and impermanence of living in Los Angeles, of how close to the edge things really are.
In her artist’s statement, she writes, “Raised in New York from age 1 until 14, I remember wondering about my birthplace Los Angeles during the endless months of New York gray skies. I remember seeing fragments of the Rose Parade with its beautiful weather on television, while where I was it was cold and snowy. Los Angeles looked like Oz to me. The mystery resolved itself when I returned to my home city. I remember a profound sense of awe getting out of the airport at LAX and seeing palm trees and feeling the warm and balmy air on my skin, I was home and the light was golden and all things seemed possible.
The West has always been a place to begin anew, a place of dreams. And yet, it is a city of duality with weather of catastrophe bookending the dreams. Santa Ana winds whip up wildfires that are unstoppable and unpredictable. Yet when the wildfires are burning there can be exquisite sunsets. These paintings are about impermanence and fragility.”
Susan Lizotte was born in Los Angeles, and adopted at two months old. When she was one, she moved with her adopted parents to Bronxville in Westchester County, NY; they moved back to L.A. when she was 14. She earned her B.A. in Theater Arts at UCLA – discovering her love for art and art history through a class at the end of her senior year. While still in college, she worked part time designing men’s custom dress shirts, and went on to start her own business designing bespoke shirts and suits for men, and ran it for fifteen years. After finding and meeting her biological mother – an artist –Lizotte finally decided to pursue her love of art and painting. She resides in Los Angeles, balancing her studio practice with life with her husband, four children, and family pets including a peacock.
Pictured: “Hollywood Hills at Sunset,” 16”x12” oil on canvas
www.susanlizotte.com
