Skeleton Studies 

A Battle of Skeletons
(They stood up on their feet—a vast army. Ezekiel 37:10)
1997-2014
graphite, black chalk, ink and bodycolour
on Fabriano Umbria, joined
1425 x 2020 mm

left, Large Skeleton, I
1997–2001/2005
black, red and white chalks on
Fabriano Umbria, joined
1869 x 710 mm
Wellcome Collection, London

right, Skull and Torso (shoulders and sternum)
1991
graphite
360 x 510 mm
University College Art Collection, London

Anatomical Sketchbook I
1997–99
graphite with grey, white and sanguine chalk
on Fabriano Umbria, forty-eight folios
380 x 1025 mm (open)
Wellcome Collection, London

An early fascination with nineteenth-century history painting and photography of the American Civil War (1861–1865) mark the works produced in 1978-1982, along with a juvenile acquaintance with the legendary figure of United States President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). He, unwittingly, became a subject of the Sujo family’s long-running saga in Venezuela. My aunt, the acclaimed actress, Juana Sujo, born in Buenos Aires and Berlin-trained, a fierce opponent of the repressive regime of both Juan Perón in Argentina and of Marcos Pérez Jiménez in Venezuela, is credited with sparking off a popular uprising that led to the latter’s fall from power. 
The circumstances surround a visit to Caracas of the distinguished composer Aaron Copland in 1957 to conduct the first performance in Spanish of ‘A Lincoln Portrait’. A centrepiece of this work are the words from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Former New York Governor, Mario Cuomo, recalled this event: ‘To everyone's surprise, the reigning dictator who had rarely been seen in public arrived at the last possible moment. On that evening Juana Sujo was the fiery narrator who performed the spoken-words that, “government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”’ On hearing those words, the audience rose to their feet and began cheering wildly. Not long after, the caudillo Marcos Pérez Jiménez was deposed, forced to flee the country. In effect, Lincoln’s words, narrated through Juana had a ‘magical effect on the audience and sparked a revolution.’ (Mario Cuomo, New York Times) A recording of the recital continued to haunt me long after the events described here. 

© Glenn Sujo, 2013

Lincoln, Oh Father! 
1982-2014 
charcoal, black and white chalk, bodycolour 
on Fabriano Artístico, eight joins 
1682 x 1545 mm 

Lifelines

Lifelines (from the suite States of Being, 2010-2013) employs soft chiaroscuro effects to suggest a close space with little indication of breathable air. The naked figures have lost all pretence, their possessions stripped away leaving them exposed in a scene of judgement and possible annihilation. Vitality is evident but so is vulnerability. Like weakened hospital patients, they depend for their existence upon some unseen authority. Their only sign of modernity lies in the artifice of the women’s hair. These people are still animated, gesturing, questioning, imploring, or informing. Behind them others watch and wait in the vapid landscape. They are caught in a fraught and directionless limbo, facing anonymity, a loss of identity. There is nothing private here. Even so the dynamic female at the left strides unstoppably forwards, like a Cézanne Bather deprived of sunlight, at once vulnerable and persistent. Once part of this world, they are now inhabitants of no particular place. They witness a bleak life on the edge of extinction. The smudgy, soft and flowing tonal shifts of this drawing focus on anxious heads with loose jaws and ageing necks.

© John Milner, ‘Introduction: Glenn Sujo’s Lifelines’ (exhibition catalogue) Lewis Elton Gallery, University of Surrey (25 November – 19 December 2013).

Lifelines: Allegory 
from the suite ‘States of Being’ 
2010 
graphite, ink and watercolour on 
wove, Fabriano Artístico paper
778 x 660 mm 
Signed and dated on the reverse 
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem 

This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen…
for Tadeusz Borowski
2007–12
gouache and ink on two sheets of joined,
wove, Fabriano Artístico
778 x 655 mm
Collection the artist

Ghetto Suite: Work In Progress

Rhythmic procession, study
2018
graphite, black and grey chalks, ink and
watercolour on Saunders Waterford rag paper
573 x 763mm
Inaugural Exhibition, Benjamin Rhodes Arts, London,
17 August–24 September 2022

Rhythmic procession, with accusatory figure
2018
graphite, black and grey chalks, ink and
watercolour on Saunders Waterford rag paper
573 x 763mm
Inaugural Exhibition, Benjamin Rhodes Arts, London,
17 August–24 September 2022 

Small study after Ghetto IV
2015–20
graphite, ink and bodycolour on paper
mounted on ragboard, joined
433 x 557mm
Signed and dated on the reverse

Small study after cartoon for Ghetto II
2019
tempera and gouache over giclee print unique impression
[dimensions unknow]

Large Ghetto: To the Bridge (in progress)
2017–
graphite, charcoal, black chalk, ink and tempera on Saunders Waterford rag paper, joined, lined and stretched onto canvas
1278 x 1823 mm

Large Ghetto V (in progress)
2009–
oil paint on a graphite, charcoal, black chalk, ink and tempera underdrawing on sheets of Saunders Waterford rag paper, joined, lined and stretched onto canvas
1440 x 1940 mm

Large Ghetto IV: Terracotta (in progress)
2009–
oil paint on a graphite, charcoal, black chalk, ink and tempera underdrawing on sheets of Saunders Waterford rag paper, joined, lined and stretched onto canvas
1375 x 1913 mm

Second colour study for Ghetto II
2006–9
graphite, black, grey, blue and red chalks, pigmented felt tip marker, ink and bodycolour, heightened, on bread-and-butter cartridge and tracing film
1190 x 1700 mm

Large Ghetto VI: Fahrstraße 
2011-2021 (in progress) 
graphite, pastel, bodycolour, ink and acrylic on sheets of joined Saunders paper lined and stretched onto aluminium 
1750 x 2150 mm 

Allegories 

Nevermore!
2017-22 (in progress)
oil on tempera, ink and graphite on Saunders
Waterford rag paper, joined, lined and stretched
onto canvas
1000 x 2000 mm

Reform! 
2017-22 (in progress) 
oil on tempera, ink and graphite on Saunders Waterford rag paper, joined, lined and stretched onto canvas
1000 x 1900 mm