Don Suggs: Face-Off, Again
Don Suggs
Surrogates, 2017
oil and acrylic on Celtec PVC panel
29 x 48 x 1/8 in. (73.7 x 121.9 x .3 cm)
Framed: 30 9/16 x 49 5/8 in. (77.6 x 126 cm)
$28,000
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L.A. Louver is pleased to present Face-Off, Again, a pop-up exhibition featuring works by Don Suggs (1945-2019). The exhibition will be on view to the public from November 2 through November 6, 2026, then by appointment only through December 18, 2026.
The paintings were created by Suggs between 2017 and 2019 and were first showcased at L.A. Louver a week before the state’s mandatory stay-at-home order was issued in March 2020. In honor of the artist and this magnetic body of work that missed a proper presentation, L.A. Louver is pleased to showcase Face-Off, Again, open to the public for one week only.
In this series, Suggs studied the political atmosphere of the time, composing paintings with his sharp-witted intellect and metaphorical interrogation, both of which are hallmarks of Suggs’ long career as an artist. Both entertaining and disorienting, this timeless series was made in response to the toxic political shifts happening in America ten years ago, the beginning of a time that has evolved to threaten our freedom and democracy today.
The choice to debut this extrinsic series of paintings now, neatly during the 2026 midterm elections, was no coincidence. The country is facing a fork in the road, a metaphor Suggs often toyed with in his work, used more as a visual strategy to redirect any assumed intentions or singular meanings within his paintings. The works in Face-Off, Again beckon the viewer naturally, inviting them into a candy-colored landscape with flirtatious linear composites, laced in politically charged imagery that twist and turn at every take. Faces are fractured with fluid renderings of anthropomorphized trees and animal forms, while disembodied human hands and phantasmal figurines weave in and out of each composition.
These bold, invented realities are overlayed in transparent blocks of color gently interrupting and shifting the linear dialogue within. The spontaneous, yet scripted use of imagery gives a thrilling pulse to each work, and the introduction and neat execution of his political ideologies, both seen and unseen, will speak to generations to come.
Don Suggs
Horizon, 2017
oil, acrylic and ink on Celtec panel
29 x 31 x 1/8 in. (73.7 x 78.7 x .3 cm)
Framed: 30 9/16 x 33 in. (77.6 x 83.8 cm)
$18,000
Inquire
Don Suggs
The Same Clay, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on plywood panel
17 x 17 x 3/4 in. (43.2 x 43.2 x 1.9 cm)
Framed: 19 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (49.5 x 49.5 cm)
$9,000
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Don Suggs
Orange Man Blues, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on canvas over plywood in artist's frame
22 3/4 x 22 3/4 x 1 3/4 in. (57.8 x 57.8 x 4.4 cm)
$12,000
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Don Suggs
When You're An Axe, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on canvas over panel in artist's frame
26 1/2 x 20 3/4 x 1 3/4 in. (67.3 x 52.7 x 4.4 cm)
$9,000
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Don Suggs
A Marriage, 2017
oil and acrylic on Celtec PVC panel
28 1/2 x 32 1/2 x 3/4 in. (72.4 x 82.6 x 1.9 cm)
Framed: 30 1/2 x 34 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (77.5 x 87.6 x 3.2 cm)
$18,000
Inquire
Don Suggs
Divine Biomorph, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on plywood
17 x 17 x 3/4 in. (43.2 x 43.2 x 1.9 cm)
Framed: 19 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (49.5 x 49.5 cm)
$9,000
Inquire
Don Suggs
Critique, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on canvas over panel
19 x 28 3/4 x 1 1/4 in. (48.3 x 73 x 3.2 cm)
Framed: 21 3/4 x 31 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. (55.2 x 80 x 4.4 cm)
$12,000
Inquire
Don Suggs
Matron and Mage, 2017
oil and acrylic on Celtec PVC panel
34 3/4 x 42 in. (88.3 x 106.7 cm)
Framed: 36 1/4 x 43 5/8 in. (92.1 x 110.8 cm)
$28,000
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Don Suggs
Tyrant, 2017
oil and acrylic on Celtec PVC panel
29 x 33 x 1/8 in. (73.7 x 83.8 x .3 cm)
Framed: 30 5/8 x 34 9/16 in. (77.8 x 87.8
cm)
$18,000
Inquire
Don Suggs
Species, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on canvas
9 x 12 x 3/4 in. (22.9 x 30.5 x 1.9 cm)
Framed: 11 7/16 x 14 1/2 in. (29.1 x 36.8 cm)
$4,500
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Don Suggs
Red Hand, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on canvas board mounted on panel in artist's frame
12 3/4 x 11 x 1 in. (32.4 x 27.9 x 2.5 cm)
$4,000
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Don Suggs
His Galatea, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on canvas board mounted on panel in artist's frame
13 x 10 3/4 x 1 in. (33 x 27.3 x 2.5 cm)
$4,000
Inquire
Don Suggs
Combover, 2018
oil, acrylic and ink on canvas board in artist's frame
7 3/4 x 9 3/4 x 1 in. (19.7 x 24.8 x 2.5 cm)
$2,400
Inquire
Don Suggs
Face-Off, 2017
oil and acrylic on canvas over panel
37 1/2 x 43 1/4 x 1 5/8 in. (95.3 x 109.9 x 4.1 cm)
$28,000
Inquire
About Don Suggs
Interior of Don Suggs’ studio in Los Angeles, CA, photographed in 2019
Don Suggs (1945-2019) was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in San Diego, California. Suggs studied art, film and psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned both an MA in 1971 and MFA in 1972. Suggs was awarded two National Endowment for the Art Grants, in 1973 and 1991. A thirty-eight-year survey of Suggs’ paintings, drawings, photography and sculptures were presented at the Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art + Design, Los Angeles in 2007. Titled One Man Group Show, the exhibition was co-curated by gallery director Meg Linton, and writer and curator Doug Harvey. In addition to making art, Suggs had a distinguished career as a teacher. He held positions at Florida State University, Tallahassee; Franconia College, New Hampshire; the University of Southern California; Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, and UCLA, where he taught painting and drawing from 1983 to 2014.
Face-off videos
An independent writer and curator of contemporary art, Meg Linton lends insight into the work of Don Suggs. Formerly Director of the Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art + Design, she curated the artist’s retrospective titled Don Suggs: One Man Group Show in 2007.
Writer, curator and artist Doug Harvey reflects on our exhibition “Don Suggs: Face-Off.”
Take a tour of the original exhibition, Don Suggs: Face-Off at L.A. Louver, which was on view March 11 - May 30, 2020.
L.A. Louver is currently open by appointment only. Please call 310.822.4955 or email info@lalouver.com for appointments or inquiries. To receive the latest news about L.A. Louver, subscribe to our mailing list. Thank you!