if SUsaN COMes to visit You, HOW will you know?
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 12:48 pmSusan Cianciolo used to make clothes but now she makes art.
Susan Cianciolo once opened a pop-up restaurant (“RUN Restaurant”) at Alleged Gallery with her now ex-husband Aaron Rose. They served vegetarian food in “an elaborate Japanese luncheonette, complete with a rock fountain, handmade table linens, tatami rooms and a working kitchen.”
From 1995 to 2001, Susan Cianciolo put out clothes under the label RUN, which was stocked by Barney’s and IF Soho and praised by Margiela. The clothes, mostly t-shirts, dresses and other simples forms, feature hand stitching, collaging, and D.I.Y addendum such as snap on pom-poms. Assistant at the time Annie OK has this to say about a spring collection: “We were thinking about dust bunnies, and laundry lint, and the string that hangs out of your pocket when you turn it inside out."
Susan Cianciolo’s daughter (8 years old) is named Lilac Sky Cianciolo. Lilac is fully participant in Susan’s work, contributing her own designs and drawings, and naming pieces.
Susan Cianciolo is also known for her zines and art books, which she initially started making with Aaron Rose and Mark Gonzales as companions to her fashion collections, and now continues to produce for exhibitions and as stand alone works.
In 2014, Susan Cianciolo partnered with her long-time collaborator Kiva Motnyk to launch Thompson Street Studios, a home goods and experimental textile studio. Cianciolo released the RUN home collection, featuring hand stitched quilts, coasters, pillows, and other home crafts.
In 2017, Susan Cianciolo was one of the 63 artists chosen for the Whitney Biennale. In addition to showing work, Cianciolo will also re-stage RUN Restauarant at the biennale (although she will not be cooking herself this time).
Noted palm reader Dame Darcy has this to say to Susan: “You do a lot of different things, but it’s all coming from the same place. A lot of people change their careers three times during their life, but yours is more going to be an evolution — it might evolve into something else, but it’s always going to be the same thing, just manifested differently.”
