In s3e39, Platemark host Ann Shafer speaks with Sue Coe, an artist and social activist. The pair were joined in the conversation by Tru Ludwig (Sue is one of Tru’s art heroes) at Sue’s home in the Catskill Mountains, New York.

 

Sue creates art that goes right to the heart of an issue, whether it be animal cruelty, capitalism, authoritarianism, women’s rights or any other progressive ideal. Images are sometimes difficult, (TRIGGER WARNING) and the conversation touched on some topics that may be distressing for listeners. Please know the discussion ranges from slaughterhouses and mass killings of animals to sexual violence against women, along with a number of other tough topics. There are also plenty of expletives coming from all corners. Consider this fair warning.

 

Sue, Ann, and Tru talked about veganism, the environment, Käthe Kollwitz, Galerie St. Etienne and famed dealer Hildegard Bachert, placing work at an institution (Sue calls Ann “you poor, sad creature”), and starting a museum just for printmaking. It’s quite a conversation.

Sue Coe on her deck, our temporary recording studio, Deposit, NY.

Sue Coe (English, born 1951). Auschwitz Begins…, 2009. Woodcut. Sheet: 15 ½ x 52 in. (39.4 x 132.1 cm.). Galerie St. Etienne.

Sue Coe (English, born 1951). Depopulation, 2020. Linoleum cut. Sheet: 10 3/8 x 8. ½ in. (26.4 x 21.6 cm.). Galerie St. Etienne.

Shiko Munakata (Japanese, 1903–1975). The Visit, 1959. Woodcut. Sheet: 130 1/16 x 15 in. (33.2 x 38.1 cm.) Museum of Modern Art, New York.

James Gilray (British, 1756–1815). Edward Jenner vaccinating patients in the Smallpox and Innoculkation Hospital of St. Pancras; the patients develop features of cows, 1802. Etching with watercolor. Wellcome Collection, London.  

Sue Coe (English, born 1951) and Eric Avery (American, born 1949). Zoonotic Spillover, 2023. Linoleum cut with hand coloring. Sheet: 30 x 36 ¾ in. (76.2 x 93.3 cm.). Published by Tarantula Press, Texas A&M University.

Sue Coe’s carving station.

Sue Coe in her studio.

Sue Coe pulls open the flat files.

Sue Coe (English, born 1951). Fighting the New Jim Crow, 2021. Woodcut.

Sue Coe (English, born 1951). Woman Walks into Bar–Is Raped by Four Men on the Pool Table–While 20 Watch, 1983. Mixed media. 7' 7 5/8" x 9' 5 1/4" (232.7 x 287.7 cm.). Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Otto Dix (German, 1891–1969). Shock Troops Advance under Gas (Sturmtruppe geht unter Gas vor) from The War (Der Krieg), 1924. Etching, aquatint, and drypoint, from a portfolio of fifty prints. Plate: 7 5/8 x 11 5/16 in. (19.3 x 28.8 cm.); sheet: 13 11/16 x 18 5/8 in. (34.8 x 47.3 cm.). Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Sue Coe (English, born 1951). Bush Aids, 1990. Photoetching. Sheet: 15 x 10 7/8 in. (38.1 x 27.6 cm.). Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945). Battlefield, no. 6 from the series Peasants’ War, 1907. Etching, drypoint, aquatint, sandpaper and softground etching. Plate: 16 ¼ x 20 7/8 in. (41.28 x 53 cm.). Käthe Kollwitz Museum, Cologne.

Sue Coe (English, born 1951). Woman Tied to Pole, 1984. Photoetching. 13 1/4 x 9 1/4 in. (33.6 x 23.5 cm.).

Installation shot from Sue Coe: Graphic Resistance. MoMA PS1, June 3–September 9, 2018.

Ann Shafer and Sue Coe, June 3, 2023.