Sue Coe (born 1951 in Tamworth, Staffordshire) is a British-American artist and illustrator working primarily in drawing and printmaking, often in the form of illustrated books and comics. Coe studied at the Royal College of Art in London, lived in New York City from 1972 to 2001. She currently resides in upstate New York.
CHRONOLOGY AND EXHIBITION HISTORY
1951 Born, Tamworth (Staffordshire), England
1970-73 Student, Royal College of Art, London
1972 Emigrates to U.S. & settles in New York
NOTABLE ARWARDS, HONORS AND TEACHNIG POSITIONS
1994 Outstanding National Activist Award, The Culture and Animals Foundation
1999-2001 Board member, Farm Sanctuary USA
2001-2004 Parsons New School: Reportage/Social Political Art
2009 Winner of cash prize, 175th Open Annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design, New York, NY for 2008 painting "Mary" from series Elephants Never Forget.
2010 Philagraphika 2010 participant, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Dickinson College's 2013 Arts Award
2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, WCA: Women's Caucus for Art
2017 Lifetime Achievement Award, Southern Graphics Council
BOOKS
1983 How to Commit Suicide in South Africa
1985 Paintings and Drawings by Sue Coe
1986 X (The Life and Times of Malcolm X)
1987 Police State (exhibition catalogue)
1996 Dead Meat -- Winner of the 1991 Genesis Award
2000 Pit’s Letter
2004 Bully: Master of the Global Merry-Go-Round
2005 Sheep of Fools: A Blab! Storybook -- Voted "Book of the Year" by PETA
2012 Cruel
2016 The Animals' Vegan Manifesto
2018 Untitled publication on Zoos, TBA
SERIES IN SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
"Night Court," published in The New Yorker August 2, 1993
"Liverpool's Children," published in The New Yorker December 13, 1993
"Scenes from an AIDS Ward," published in The Village Voice February 22, 1994
"The Sweatshop, 1994," published in The New Yorker November 7, 1994
"Keeping Vigil," published in The New Yorker January 9, 1995
"Ghost Sheep," published in Blab Magazine No. 13, Autumn 2002
"Weapons of Mass Destruction," published in Blab Magazine No. 14, Autumn 2003
"Fowl Plague," published in Blab Magazine No. 15, Autumn 2004
"Run," published in Blab Magazine No. 16, Autumn 2005
"Hurricane," ublished in Blab Magazine No. 17, September 2006
DOCUMENTARY FILM
1986 Painted Landscapes of the Times
COMPUTER WORKS
1998 Dead Meat CD-Rom
1998 Monkey Business CD-Rom Screensaver
1998 AIDS Prevention Mural, for RedHot Organization
ONE-WOMAN EXHIBITIONS
1979 “All Over Manhattan,” Thumb Gallery, London
1982 “Drums of the Night,” Moira Kelly Fine Art, London and Compass Four Gallery, Edinburgh
1983 P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York City
1984 S.L. Simpson Gallery, New York City
1985 P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York City
1986 “X: The Malcolm X Series,” Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago;
Partisan Gallery, Toronto; P.S. 1, Long Island City, NY
“Oppression and Expression,” Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans
1987 “Police State,” Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA; Knight Gallery,
Charlotte, N.C.; Portland Art Museum, OR; Wesleyan Gallery, CT;
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX; Ohio State University;
San Francisco Art Institute
Galerie Paule Anglim, San Francisco
1988 City Gallery of Contemporary Art, Raleigh, NC
1988 “Prints,” Springfield Art Museum, MO
1989 “Police State” (European tour), Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England;
Cornerhouse, Manchester, England; Orchard Gallery, Derry Ireland;
Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry, England
“Porkopolis - Animals and Industry,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
1990 “Porkopolis,” Brody’s Gallery, Washington D.C.
1990-91 “Porkopolis - Animals and Industry,” Joan Whitney Payson Gallery of
Art, Portland, ME; Indiana University of Fine Arts, Bloomington, IN;
University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO; Washington State University,
Pullman, WA; Inter American Art Gallery, Miami Dade Community College;
Georgia State University Art Gallery, Atlanta;
Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA
1991 “Sue Coe Retrospective: Political Document of a Decade,”
Galerie St. Etienne, New York
“Collection of Prints by Sue Coe,” University of California College of
Creative Studies, Santa Barbara, CA
1992 “The Road to the White House,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
1993 “Porkopolis: Sue Coe’s Jungle,” Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, MA
“Sue Coe,” Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
“Sue Coe,” College of the Mainland, Texas City, TX
“Sue Coe: Prints,” Schacht Fine Arts Center, Russell Sage College, NY
“Sue Coe: Prints,” University of Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI
1994 “Sue Coe,” Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
“Sue Coe: We All Fall Down,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
“Sue Coe: Nonfiction,” Brody’s Gallery, Washington D.C.
“Cohorts,” Jonson Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
1995 “Sue Coe: Recent Works,” Visual Arts Gallery, University of Alabama
“Sue Coe,” Mesa College Gallery, San Diego
“Sweatshops 1995: Works by Sue Coe,” Bread and Roses, New York
1996 “Sue Coe’s Ship of Fools,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
“Sue Coe: We All Fall Down,” Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
1997-99 “Heel of the Boot: Prints by Sue Coe,” Arizona State University Art
Museum, Tempe, Arizona; University of Illinois, Normal, Illinois;
Guilford College Art Gallery, Guilford, North Carolina;
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington;
University of Illinois, Augustana, Illinois
1999 “Sue Coe: The Pit,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
2000/2001 “Sue Coe: The Pit,” Lewis and Clark University, Portland, OR;
William Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, CT
“The Tragedy of War,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
2001 “One Hand Washes the Other,” Colgate University, Hamilton, NY and
SUNY-Oswego, Oswego, NY.
2002 “Commitment to the Struggle: The Art of Sue Coe” Brown University,
Providence, RI.
2003 “AIDS Portfolio” Center for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati, OH
2004“Sue Coe, The Tragedy of War: A Print Cycle” Fairbanks Gallery,
Corvallis, Oregon
2005 “Sue Coe’s Sheep of Fools” Galerie St. Etienne, New York.
“We All Fall Down: The AIDS Series” Cyrus M. Running Gallery,
Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
2006 “Sue Coe: Selections from Sheep of Fools” Emmanuel Gallery at
University of Colorado, Denver, CO
2007 “Sue Coe: Graphic Witness” Pacific Northwest College of Art,
Portland, OR
"Sue Coe: Cycles" Smokebrush Gallery and Foundation for the Arts, Colorado Springs, CO
2008 "Elephants We Must Never Forget: Paintings, Drawings and Prints by Sue Coe" Galerie St. Etienne, New York
2009 "Sue Coe's Porkopolis--Animals and Industry" print exhibition, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL
"Works by Sue Coe," A Print Retrospective, Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA
2010 "Sue Coe Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Prints, 1999-2009," Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, GA
2012 "Sue Coe: The Last Thirty Years, a print retrospective," Finger Lakes Commuity College, Canandaigua, NY
"MAD AS HELL! New Work (and Soem Classics) by Sue Coe" Galerie St. Etienne, New York
2013 "Sue Coe: The Ghosts of Our Meat" Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
2016 ""AIDS Suite" Cushing/Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, New Haven, CT
"Sue Coe: Animals and Industry" SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY
2017 "The Animals' Vegan Manifesto" Georgia State University's Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2018 "Sue Coe: Graphic Resistance," MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)
1977 “Portraits,” American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York
1978 “European Illustrators,” Georges Pompidou Center, Paris
1980 “People’s Art,” United Nations, New York City
1981 “Images of Labor,” international traveling exhibition
1983 Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
Seibu Gallery, Tokyo
1984 “Art as Social Conscience,” Avery Arts Center, Bard College, NY
“New Portraits,” P.S. 1, Long Island City, NY
“American Drawings,” Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum and Ranger Kunstmuseum, Denmark
“Biennale 111,” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
1985 “57th Between A and D,” Holly Solomon Gallery, New York City
“East Village Situation ‘85,” Museum of Modern Art, Catanzaro, Italy
“Innocence and Experience,” Greenville County Museum of Art, SC
“The Political Landscape,” Robeson Center Gallery, Rutgers University, NJ
1986 “75th American Exhibition,” Art Institute of Chicago
“Malcolm X Center for Black Survival,” El Bohio Gallery, New York City
“The Engaged Image,” Adelphi University Gallery, NY
1987 “The New Avant-Garde,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art
“Process and Product,” Edith C. Blum Art Institute, Bard College, NY
“Critical Realism,” British traveling exhibition
“Morality Tales: History Painting in the 80’s,” American traveling exhibition
“Innovators of American Illustration,” American traveling exhibition
1988 “Committed to Print,” Museum of Modern Art, New York
“Selections from the Eli Broad Family Collection,” Kresge Art Museum, MI
“Rosenberg Era Art Project,” American traveling exhibition
“The Mandela Freedom Concert,” Wembley Stadium, London
1989 “Art and the Law,” American traveling exhibition organized by West Publishing Company
“A Different War: Vietnam in Art,” American traveling exhibition
1990 “Painting Divergence,” University Art Gallery, Las Cruces, NM
“Contemporary Bestiary,” Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY
“Word as Image: American Art 1960-1990,” Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, Oklahoma City Art Museum, OK, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
1991 “News as Muse,” School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD
“Moral Imperatives: Art of Social Protest,” Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
“Art of the 1980’s: Selections from the Eli Broad Family Foundation Collection,” Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, NC
“Advocacy in Art,” Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield,CT
“The Critical Image,” Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC
“Artists of Conscience: 16 Years of Social and Political Commentary,” Alternative Museum, New York City
“Food, From Pleasure to Politics,” Goddard-Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
1991-92 “Malcolm X: The Man, The Meaning,” Jamaica Arts Center, Jamaica, NY, and Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ
“The Abortion Project,” Simon Watson Gallery, New York City; Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT; Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
1992 “Scandal, Outrage and Censorship,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
“Darkness Visible,” The Drawing Center, New York City
“Bread and Roses Cultural Project,” Union 1199, New York City
“In Good Conscience: The Radical Tradition in 20th Century American Illustration," Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY; Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, NH; Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL
“Sue Coe: The Road to the White House,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
1993 “Troubled Waters: American Social & Political Art,” Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY
“Women’s Art, Women’s Lives, Women’s Issues,” The Tweed Gallery, New York City
“From Destruction to Reclamation: Endangered Life,” Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
“Re: Framing Cartoons,” Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
“Visible Outrage,” Ohio Weslyan Univerity, Delaware, OH
“Malcolm X: Man, Ideal, Icon,” Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA; Anacostia Museum, Washington, DC; Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA; Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena, San Francisco, CA
1994 “Artist’s Sketchbooks: The Intimate Journeys,” National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.
“Single-Cel Creatures: Cartoons and their Influence on the Contemporary Arts,” Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
1995 “Art of Justice,” Krasdale Gallery, White Plains, NY
“Polemical Prints,” Center Galleries, Detroit, MI
“Alternatives,” Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY
“Radical Ink,” Spaces, Cleveland, OH
“Concept in Form, Artists’ Sketchbooks and Maquettes,” Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
“Art and the Law,” American traveling exhibition organized by West Publishing
“In the Light of Goya,” University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
1996 “Working in the 90s,” College of the Mainland Art Gallery, Texas City, TX
“Love’s Labor Lost,” City Gallery at Chastain, Atlanta, GA
“Bringing it all Back Home,” Gracie Mansion/Fred Dorfman, New York, NY
“Thinking Print: Books to Billboards,” Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1997 “A Critical Reality: Sue Coe and Paul Marcus,” ACA Galleries, New York, NY
“What One is Worth, ” Seattle Folk Life Festival, Seattle, WA
“Art and Provocation: Images from Rebels,” Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
“Art on the Edge: The Werner and Elaine Danheiser Collection,” Museum of Modern Art, New York City
1998 “Taboo: Repression and Revolt in Modern Art,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
2000 “The Tragedy of War,” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
“Open Ends,” Museum of Modern Art, New York
2001 “One Hand Washes the Other: Prints and Drawings, 1985-2000," Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
2002 ”Ship of Fools: Prints” Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
2003 “MARS: Art and War” Neue Galerie am landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria
2004 “Crimes and Misdemeanors: Politics in U.S. Art of the 1980s” Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati, OH
“Animals & Us: The Animal in Contemporary Art” Galerie St. Etienne, New York
“New American Story Art” Parker’s Box, Brooklyn, NY
“Democracy in America” The Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts ASU Arts Museum, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
2005 “The Downtown Show: The New York Art Scene, 1974-1984” Grey Art Gallery, New York, NY
2006> "The Downtown Show: The New York Art Scene, 1974-1984" Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA; Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX
2007 "LitGraphic: The Art of the Graphic Novel" Normal Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
2008 "Make Art/Stop AIDS" Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
"Blab!" Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
"Refusing to Look Away: Bearing Witness to Violence" Art & Design Gallery at the Missouri State University, Springfield, MO
"Compassionate Voices: The Art of Sue Coe, Maia Dery, Diane Fox and Jack Ketner" UT Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, TN
"Liberties Under Fire: The ACLU of Utah at 50," Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, UT
2009 "Animalkind" University Art Gallery, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
2009 to 2012 "LitGraphic: The Art of the Graphic Novel" Traveling exhibition: Toledo Museum of Art, 2009; Huntington Museum of Art. West Virgia, 2010; James A. Michner Art Museum, 2010-2011; Fitchburg Art Museum, MA, 2012; Munson Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, 2012
2012 "Under the Influence: The Comics" Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY
"Every Exit is an Entrance: 30 Years of Exit Art" Exit Art, New York, NY
2013 "The Animals Look Back at Us" Kleinert/James Art Center, Woodstock, NY, Williamsburg Art & Historical Center
"Black or White" Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2015 "Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008" Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
2016 "All This is True: The Art of Sue Coe and Warrington Colescott" Tweed Museum, Duluth, MN
"You Say You Want a Revolution" Galerie St. Etienne, New York
"Endangered" John Jay College, New York, NY
"Howl Happening!" East Village Eye, New York, NY
2017 "All Good Art is Political: Käthe Kollwitz and Sue Coe," Galerie St. Etienne, New York