Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [c.1953]-2019 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2049 photographs
3.4 m of textual records
1 photograph album
1 sketchbook
8 video recordings (1 DVD, 1 VHS tape and 6 video cassettes)
1 chemise dress
1 couture pantsuit
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Suzy Lake (born Detroit, Michigan, 1947) is a visual artist and educator whose work uses photoconceptual, performance and video strategies to examine and critique ideals of the body, gender and identity. She immigrated to Montreal in 1968, following the 1967 Detroit riots, and became a founding member of the artist-run centre Véhicule. Lake’s career has been based in Toronto since the late 1970s. She has taught at the University of Guelph since 1988. Her work is in numerous major public collections including those of the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Winnipeg Art Gallery and Montreal Museum of Fine Art.
Archival history
The materials now constituting the Suzy Lake fonds were transferred directly to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2009 and 2011. The material constituting an accrual to the Suzy Lake fonds were transferred directly to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2022.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
AGO credit line: Gift of Suzy Lake, 2011.
AGO credit line for accrual: Gift of Suzy Lake, 2024.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of Suzy Lake’s documentation of her artistic projects and exhibitions, records of her teaching activity at the University of Guelph, trial proofs used in the production of photo murals, and an example of early experimental work by the artist. Fonds also includes Lake’s grandfather’s sketchbook from his studies at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Accrual to fonds consists of Suzy Lake’s documentation of her artistic projects and exhibitions, as well as some documentation relating to her academic career as a professor at the University of Guelph. Includes textual records such as correspondence, project contracts, press clippings, and Lake’s project notes. Also contains records relating to the production of significant publications of Lake’s work, including Introducing Suzy Lake (2014) and Suzy Lake: Scotiabank Photography Award (2017).
Accrual also includes eight video recordings on a variety of media, documenting Lake’s projects and talks between the 1980s and 2012.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Access to Special Collections is by appointment only. Please contact the reference desk for more information.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright is held by the creator. It is the researcher’s responsibility to obtain permission to publish any part of the fonds/collection.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Rules for Archival Description
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
7-Jul-15
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description and finding aid prepared by Amy Marshall Furness, 2011.
Uploaded and adapted by Nirvana Chainani, 2019.
Updated by Camille McDayter to add 2024 accrual, 2026.