Art history has noted a number of artists who have thoughtfully spoken to complex and difficult lived experiences and its impact on individual and collective emotions, traumas, and more. American artist Susan Mogul speaks to this approach through a profound and intersectional perspective. The exhibition ‘Susan Mogul. What becomes a Legend most?’ at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw is a cross-sectional overview of her work. The exhibition provides both a formally diverse repertoire of work (photographs, works on paper, installations, videos) and touches on autobiographical themes. The topics of the works relate a plethora of important issues such as the women’s roles, social transformations, the body as a synonym for freedom and Susan’s relationship with her mother.
The exhibition at Zachęta is a testament to Susan Mogul’s impressive body of work showcased on the global stage in her first institutional worldwide exhibition. A primary theme theme of her work is focused on memory through an autobiographical view, with a particular focus on the feminist perspective. Mogul debuted at Zachęta in 2020, as a contributor of the exhibition “Videotapes. Early Video Art.” She presented one of her first short films, “Dressing Up,” a catalyst for facilitating further collaboration with Mogul, which resulted in her solo exhibition in 2022.
Susan Mogul first made her debut in the 1970s after moving from New York to Los Angeles. She studied at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) as part of the famous Feminist Art Program run by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro. The knowledge and experience she acquired there led to her impressive multifaceted career today. Susan Mogul is considered one of the precursors of audiovisual arts, a pioneer during the 1970s innovative developments in technology and growing interest in new media. Her body of work centres around video and film and moreover, to break through and transcend the boundaries of these media. As can be observed in the exhibition, text– both spoken and printed –also plays a meaningful role, alongside images that serve a narrative function.
Female identity
Susan Mogul’s art is an intricate artistic reflection on nuanced topics such as the essence of female subjectivity. One especially notable piece from the 1970s is the previously mentioned “Dressing up,” in which the artist performs an inverted striptease (begins nude and gradually puts clothes on herself). From one side we have conceptual rigour, a tightly thought-out narrative, and from the other a sense of humour in the space of perceiving the body. The film is the artist’s commentary on the advertising campaigns of the 1970s, whose marketing gimmick was to exude female nudity. The body, for Mogul, is a symbol of freedom that was appropriated by American culture to ultimately become a product for sale.
Although 50 years passed, the problem of objectification of women’s bodies is sadly still relevant. Mogul once again addresses this issue in her timely premiere of her work in 2022. ‘What becomes a Legend most?’ is a series of three photographs, on the basis of which the artist refers to the famous advertising campaign for Blackglama luxury black furs by American Legend Cooperative. The models were celebrities, representing older generations, who provided their image to advertise the product. Susan Mogul, in a characteristically playful and somehow simultaneously profound way, addresses the question of age and the objectification of the body in material culture promotion strategies of the 20th century. The work is complemented by texts in Polish, English and Yiddish. This also pays homage to and serves as a direct reference to her diverse family roots. Also important to the series is the manifesto in the work’s subtitle, ‘Susan Mogul, The Septuagenarian, Anticipates Her First Solo Museum Exhibition.’ On the one hand, the artist historicizes her own work, while on the other, criticizes art institutions that marginalize feminist art and appreciate it only after the artists’ deaths.
‘The Body Sculptures’, which were created in the 1970s, serve as an unprecedented concept, and are presented at the exhibition as photographic documentation. The ambivalent nature of the works is evidenced by the fact that the sculptures can function both, as decoration, part of a garment, and as an element restraining the body, like a cage or corset. Susan Mogul’s early sculptures convey the artist’s interest in the body as subject and as material, especially the female body in a feminist perspective.
The discourse on women’s obligations and social roles is addressed in two film productions, ’Sing O Barren Woman’ and ’Mogul’s Women Building.’ Mogul in her distinctively captivating, playful, irony-filled way refers to the controversy surrounding the issue of childlessness of women. The first film features her female artist friends, who explain why they chose to not have children. ’Mogul’s Women Building’ is a manifesto of the power and empowerment of women who have manifested a building by themselves and for themselves.
The exhibition reverberates with Susan Mogul’s artistic position as a pioneer in approaching feminist issues, starting with those related to gender disparity and family upbringing, which were often contrary as being in opposition to education and norms of life in society.
The mother-daughter bond
The Zachęta exhibition is also a reflection on the complicated relationship between Susan Mogul and her mother Rhoda. On the one hand, the artist contrasts their evidently completely different attitudes of life. Rhoda Blate Mogul subordinated her life to her family. She took care of the household and six children. Susan, on the other hand, is a liberated feminist. On the other hand, she respectfully presents her mother’s artistic interests, whose passion was photography.
The installation, “Less is never more,” is a record of the artist’s autobiographical stories concerning her family, personal experiences, and teenage experiences. The presented paper bags are conceived as a picture-text diary including photographs, images of memorabilia and objects from the family home, anecdotes and free associations, in which the relationships between mother and daughter, private and public spheres, past and present are traced. The work reflects her mother’s artistic personality. Rhoda was interested in design and culture, followed trends, enjoyed exploring fashion and sales. The artist also touches on intimate issues, such as contraception, first sexual initiations, but also themes of teenage dilemmas or family anecdotes.
Another premiere work by the artist is ’Tales from the Mogul Archives.’ It is a sprawling narrative form that the artist has divided into seven thematic chapters: You Ask Questions, Telephone Hour, Lingua Franca, Look Alike, Woman with a Camera, Perfect Fit and Birth Control. The work is based on her mother’s photographic archive. These are intimate statements by the author combining images and text in carefully composed arrangements, showing the complex relationship between life and art. Everything is framed in Mogul’s distinctive playful and sarcastic convention, within which the artist not only introduces us to her family adventures, but also to the history of her Jewish roots. In addition, themes related to femininity, the body and the difficulties of puberty from the perspective of a young woman are presented.
The film “Mom’s Move” completes and summarises the complicated relationship between mother Rhoda and daughter Susan. From confrontation, to negation, to love, then gratitude and understanding. The work can be seen as Susan’s tribute to Rhoda – woman/mother and artist/photographer.
Humour and irony
Mogul’s art oscillates around numerous acute topics, which are framed in a conceptual form. However, thanks to an uncanny sense of humour and distance from herself and others, her works do not tire of intellectual rebuses. This is an example of highly mature, critical art, which is presented in an accessible but engaging way, full of irony and authenticity. Susan’s humorous personality particularly resonates in the early video works presented. ’Mogul is Mobile’ tells the story of the artist’s move to Los Angeles, dreaming of Hollywood while getting her highly anticipated driver’s licence. ’Start’ (’Take off’) is a video about vibrators, women’s sexual pleasure. The artist talks about the ambivalent nature of the vibrator. On the one hand, it is an inexpensive product widely available, on the other hand, its maintenance for many (batteries) is not necessarily cheap at all. At the same time, it is a direct reference to the work of American artist Vito Acconci, who often referred to the subject of masturbation in his performative works.
Zachęta’s wide spaces create ideal conditions to admire Susan Mogul’s art. Particularly the two separate, small cinema halls provide a sense of intimacy and the opportunity to focus completely on the presented film realisations. The exhibition is a precise, coherent, selection of twenty works that, despite having been created in different decades, still correspond closely with each other. Mogul’s feminist discourse on the role of women, the commercialization of the body, and the development of culture in the age of advancing capitalism is still relevant and timely. Her work can hold many co-existing truths and expressions related to personal and creative commitment, a bold statement by a female artist in a world dominated by men, and an inspiring evolution of intersectional approaches to her artistic practice. In addition, her autobiographical motifs, an analysis of her relationship with her mother, descriptions of her experiences, also in adolescence, can be treated as a form of visual diary of the artist. The exhibition is a kind of aesthetic experience in which the viewer not only reflects on social issues and cultural conditions, but also learns about Susan Mogul’s intimate life and personality. As Susan Mogul remains active professionally, and her art continues to evolve, she will surely surprise us more than once more.
