Art historian Daphne Beneke cites Suzanne Jackson (born 1944) as saying, “If I want to influence, or change the world, my art is the way—from the point of what I love, the arts are it.”1 Such aspirations were obvious since childhood, according to Beneke, for Jackson began studying watercolor painting as a seventh grader and learned oil painting on her own. As an adult, she forged this drive into a long career not only as an artist, but also as a gallery owner and activist.

In Sometimes Love is Sweet as Blackberries (1970), Jackson celebrates erotic femininity. With acrylic wash on canvas, her depiction of the torso of a female nude showcases Jackson’s skill, which was honed in drawing classes with Charles White at Otis Art Institute. Modeling the face in a three-quarter profile, with the subject’s eyes peering away from viewers, invites questions pertaining to her thoughts. Similar to the body print, Sexy Sue (1970) by David Hammons, Dindga McCannon’s linocut, Morning After (1972), and Robin Holder’s stencil monotype, Show Me How III (1990), Jackson’s image honors the feminine in a sacred manner. With berry twigs rendered grey, floating above like a halo and resting near the figure’s shoulder peacefully, the innocence of untainted love is suggested in the subject’s serious, reflective expression. The block shapes of yellow ochre for hair, coffee brown for the figure, and darker hue of grey for her hand and shoulder bring balance to the unoccupied space within the picture plane.

Sometimes Love is Sweet as Blackberries was painted five years after the 1965 Watts revolt, which served as a catalyst for the rise of arts organizations in Los Angeles whose interests served African Americans. First, there was the late Cecil Fergerson, whose iconic arts activism led him to co-found with Claude Booker the Black Arts Council (BAC) in 1968 while he was employed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The BAC exerted pressure on the museum to include programing that reflected and reached out to the region’s African American taxpayers. Later promoted to assistant curator, Fergerson became the first African American in the history of Los Angeles to attain that position.2 Also, in the late 1960s and 1970s, Brockman Gallery, Ankrum Gallery, Heritage Gallery and the Watts Tower Art Center operated as venues for supporting and showcasing art by emerging Black artists.

Amid this milieu, Jackson founded Gallery 32 in late 1968 and became its director. In the catalogue for her 2009 Loyola Marymount University exhibition, Gallery 32 and Its Circle, she noted in an interview with Carolyn Peter that “Gallery 32 offered a space where people could express an independent voice in their work and not be labeled. Gallery 32 was never a black gallery, women’s gallery, or a men’s gallery; it was a gallery about artists who came through with something to say.”3 Such a philosophy resulted in a diverse patronage that included professors and students from Otis and Chouinard Institute, actors, dancers, city employees, political activists and friends of the artists from many backgrounds. Located west of downtown Los Angeles, Gallery 32 served as a safe place and a brave space that encouraged experimentation and risk-taking within artmaking. Notably, the venue served as a conversation arena where artists such as Gloria Bohanon (1938-2008), Senga Nengudi (born 1943), John Riddle (1933-2002), Dan Concholar (1939-2017), John Outterbridge (1933-2020), and David Hammons (born 1943) would meet and discuss the questions of what Black art is and how one defines it. Suzanne Jackson is an inimitable artist and entrepreneur who was able to balance the challenges of owning and operating a gallery while simultaneously creating work. Ultimately, her lasting legacy was the ability to inspire the surrounding community as both a leader and art maker.

Richard Allen May III