Eyes On
Eyes On: Susan Wick
Denver Art Museum
100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, Colorado 80204
April 20, 2025–July 26, 2026
Admission: Adults: $22-$30, Seniors, Students, Teachers, Active Military, and Veterans: $19-$27, Youth 18 and under and Members: free
Review by Paloma Jimenez
I will stay home. I will go out. I will stay home. I will go out… These two phrases repeat several times on a collaged page inside one of Susan Wick’s artist’s books; it’s a familiar chant clattering around inside the heads of most creative people. Dedication to creation requires long bouts of solitary contemplation, configuration, and general manual labor. Inevitably, the work also starts demanding external materials and inspiration to keep the unpredictable muse in motion. Wick wrangles with this joyous tension in her Eyes On exhibition of works at the Denver Art Museum, which combines imagery of everyday home objects with glimpses of faraway lands, all curiously abstracted by a menagerie of enticing materials.
A view of the title wall in Susan Wick’s exhibition Eyes On at the Denver Art Museum, featuring the work The Garden of Eden, c. 2001, acrylic, crayon, and ink on canvas, 60 x 47.75 inches, as well as her hand-painted thank you note in Spanish and an arrangement of works on paper. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
An installation view of the orange and pink walls in Susan Wick’s exhibition Eyes On, including her hand-painted thank you note in English. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Encountering the small space, located at the entrance to the Contemporary and Modern galleries, is like opening a pack of Tropical Starburst® candies. An artist who truly understands color will make you taste it. Wick’s juicy palette invites viewers into her universe, where color becomes a form of gratitude; she has painted an earnest note of thanks, in both English and Spanish, directly onto the walls. The purity of this expression sparkles.
Susan Wick, The Garden of Eden, c. 2001, acrylic, crayon, and ink on canvas, 60 x 47.75 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and David B. Smith Gallery.
Three large paintings anchor the space and are windows into Wick’s vast output beyond what is contained within the four walls. The Garden of Eden, installed on the yellow title wall, exemplifies many of Wick’s proclivities: flattened perspective, morphing shapes, linear disruption, and erratic floral motifs. The subtle sheen of the twilight blue paint reads as a shadow, a shroud, and yet just enough light reaches the flowers.
A view of works on paper arranged in a grouping on the yellow wall in Susan Wick’s exhibition Eyes On at the Denver Art Museum. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
An irresistible sense of light and motion flows through all of Wick’s work, even the small works on paper. The scattered arrangement dances across the walls like an impossible rainbow of leaves. Created for a monthly art subscription circa 1996 and sent to people around the country, the mixed-media works offer a more immediate view into the artist’s process.
Susan Wick, Well Lit, c. 1996, ink, pastel, duct tape, and thread on paper, 13 x 8 inches. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Well Lit depicts a pair of pink vessels leaning towards each other beneath a highlighter yellow shape spewing specks of what could be light, water, or some other life-giving substance. Here, Wick’s drawn lines are reminiscent of stitches and at the top of the painting, duct tape is inexplicably sewn onto the top of the paper. The ubiquitous material becomes a fine cloth with a uniquely gilt surface, transforming into a theatrical curtain for the picture plane.
Susan Wick, Water Is Important, c. 1996, ink, pastel, duct tape, thread, and cut-and-pasted printed paper on paper, 13 x 8 inches. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Water Is Important utilizes a similar set of materials and shapes, adding in three fragments of painted fabric. At the bottom of the page four, Easter egg lumps sprout new buds. Growth, flying, and forward motion frequently appear in the Eyes On installation, reflective of the freedom with which Susan Wick approaches artmaking.
Susan Wick, Bit by Bit, c. 1996, acrylic paint, ink, and colored pencil on paper, 13 x 8 inches. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Bit by Bit depicts a bird placing rotund flowers, one at a time, around a white mound. A border at the bottom contains bowls, perhaps some assorted ingredients for adornment, creation, or nourishment (all three are synonymous within Wick’s oeuvre). Building beauty takes time, perhaps even an entire lifetime.
Susan Wick, Silver Tea, c. 1996, acrylic paint, pastel, and silver leaf on paper, 13 x 8 inches. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Susan Wick, Tea and Toast, 1996, acrylic paint, graphite pencil, gold leaf, and newsprint on paper, 13 x 8 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and David B. Smith Gallery.
Wick’s curiosity and spontaneity work well on a small, repeated scale, and the specificity of her shapes and structures can be read as a daily diaristic record. Teapots frequently appear—probably a constant companion in the creation of the works. In Silver Tea, a gestural teapot shines against a waxy pink background, while the subdued periwinkle shades of Tea and Toast suggest a less vibrant time of year.
An installation view of Susan Wick’s exhibition Eyes On, with chairs and a table filled with her artist books in the foreground. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
A selection of Susan Wick’s artist books created between 1974 and 1998, dimensions variable. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
But the arrangement of works resists linear interpretation and does not offer a complete narrative; life is, after all, a collection of surprising instances. The space welcomes such ponderings with the addition of two chairs and a coffee table vitrine full of the artist’s books from 1974 to 1998, each volume a different material, size, and subject. Some are tied together with ribbon, while others are loosely stitched. Though protected beneath the glass, they beg to be rifled through. The cover of one small tome reads “Pink is the color of love. The stage is set.” What wonders are contained inside?
A selection of vintage suitcases, dimensions variable, and Susan Wick’s hand-painted thank you note in English. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
The Eyes On: Susan Wick exhibition feels like visiting a worldly friend for tea, where the conversation leaves you expanded and inspired. Her unique blend of loose, lively representation, structured abstraction, and intuitive pattern-making sizzles with life, as only the work of someone deeply connected to the artistic process can. Detours and unexpected encounters become the main story. Stacked in the corner of the exhibition space, a tower of suitcases awaits Wick’s next adventure.
Paloma Jimenez (she/her) is an artist, writer, and teacher. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and has been featured in international publications. She received her BA from Vassar College and her MFA from Parsons School of Design.
