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A native of New York City. Susan Noyes Platt is a freelance art historian and art critic, as well as a political activist, based in Seattle, Washington. She has published articles, essays and reviews on the intersections of art and politics. Her primary concern is to alter the critical discourse to embrace the many different ways in which artists explore this intersection. Over the course of her career she has shifted from a focus on American Art to an exploration of art in the Middle East, particularly in Turkey. She has also published reviews of contemporary art from China, Latin America, South Asia, and Europe.
Her first book, Modernism in the 1920s (UMI Research Press, 1985) based on her dissertation, examined the critical discourse on modern art in the New York art and academic press in the 1920s before the history of modern art was codified, and many collectors and gallery directors published their own interpretations. The book also examines newspaper criticism by little know writers who often produced brilliant arguments. The book is available by ordering through my contact information on the home page.
Art and Politics in the 1930s, Modernism, Marxism, Americanism (Midmarch Arts Press, 1999) looks at the interconnections of art and politics during the Depression years.
Art and Politics Now Cultural Activism in a Time of Crisis (Midmarch Arts Press 2011) begins with the anti WTO demonstrations in 1999 in Seattle and concludes with reference to the BP Gulf oil spill in the spring of 2010. Topics include opposition to war, terrorism, racism, borders, and the violation of the earth.
Since publishing this book, she continues to write as an activist on many topics, celebrating artists who address the many urgent social concerns facing us in terms of climate change, immigration, opposition to war, ravaging of the social safety net, Israel Palestinian issues, and much more.
She is also doing research on immigration issues for another book and exhibition that will include visual art, poetry, film, and other media.
Receiving the Kathe Kollwitz Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art
