Susan Rankaitis
Susan Rankaitis (born 1949) is an American multimedia artist working primarily in painting, photography and drawing. Rankaitis began her career in the 1970s as an abstract painter. Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago while in graduate school, she had a transformative encounter with the photograms of the artist László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946), whose abstract works of the 1920s and 1940s she saw as "both painting and photography." Rankaitis began to develop her own experimental methods for producing abstract and conceptual artworks related both to painting and photography.
Susan Rankaitis
- Name
- Susan Rankaitis
- Born
- 1949
- Birthplace
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Known for
- Painting, Photography, Drawing
- Training
- BFA, Painting and Photography, University of Southern California, School of Fine Arts (1971), MFA Painting, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, School of Art and Design (1977)
- Movement
- Abstract Photography, Conceptual Photography
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- photographer · painter · artist
- Education
- University of Illinois System · University of Southern California
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Documentary summary
Susan Rankaitis (born 1949) is an American multimedia artist working primarily in painting, photography and drawing. Rankaitis began her career in the 1970s as an abstract painter. Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago while in graduate school, she had a transformative encounter with the photograms of the artist László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946), whose abstract works of the 1920s and 1940s she saw as "both painting and photography." Rankaitis began to develop her own experimental methods for producing abstract and conceptual artworks related both to painting and photography.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q29452325 · wikipedia · Susan Rankaitis
In this article
Biography
Biography
Rankaitis draws on science in her work—particularly ideas generated through research in the fields of biology and neuroscience and she collaborates regularly with scientists on interdisciplinary projects.
Susan Rankaitis studied at University of Illinois System and University of Southern California. László Moholy-Nagy is recorded as an influence. Employment is recorded with Scripps College. Work by Susan Rankaitis is recorded in the collections of Art Institute of Chicago, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum and J. Paul Getty Museum.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Susan Rankaitis • Born — 1949 • Birthplace — Cambridge, Massachusetts • Known for — Painting, Photography, Drawing • Training — BFA, Painting and Photography, University of Southern California, School of Fine Arts (1971), MFA Painting, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, School of Art and Design (1977) • Movement — Abstract Photography, Conceptual Photography • Website — http: www.susanrankaitis.com/
Education
Education
• MFA, Painting and Photography, University of Southern California, School of Fine Arts (1977) • BFA, Painting, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, School of Art and Design (1971)
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• 2017: Light Play: Experiments in Photography, 1970 to the Present, Los Angeles County Museum of Art • 2017: Grey Matters, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY • 2007: Limbicwork, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY • 2005: Limbicwork: Pertaining to the Nature of Borders, Europos Parkas, Vilnius, Lithuania (outdoor) • 2000: Susan Rankaitis: Drawn from Science, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA • 1998: Science as Art: Susan Rankaitis, Indiana University/Purdue University Cultural Arts Gallery, Indianapolis, IN • 1997: Gold Science Ghost Drawings, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY • 1994: Susan Rankaitis: Abstracting Science, Nature and Technology, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL • 1992: DNA Series: Susan Rankaitis, Ruth Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica, CA • 1991: Susan Rankaitis: Encounters, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ • 1983: Susan Rankaitis: Inherent in Flight, Los Angeles County Museum of Art • 1983: Susan Rankaitis: L'Avion, L'Avion, International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY
Academic career
Academic career
Rankaitis has served since 1990 as Fletcher Jones Chair in Studio Art at Scripps College in Claremont, California.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1949
Susan Rankaitis was born on 10 September 1949.
Public collections
Public collections
• Art Institute of Chicago • Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, IL • Los Angeles County Museum of Art • Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University • Princeton University Art Museum • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art • Smithsonian American Art Museum • University of Maryland, Adele H. Stamp Student Union, Contemporary Art Purchasing Program • Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Susan Rankaitis”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q29452325: Susan Rankaitis
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Museum of Contemporary Photography. www.mocp.org.
- 2.Young, Cynthia. Rochester's women and photography conference. Afterimage. 26. 1. 2–3. July–August 1998. 10.1525/aft.1998.26.1.2.
- 3.Scripps College. Spotlight on Faculty: Susan Rankaitis. 2016-03-09.
- 4.Search Collection Results The Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago.
- 5.SUSAN RANKAITIS. Design X Demo.
- 6.UCLA. Aperture Panel: Abstraction in Photography, Hammer Museum (52:18-54:00). 2009-09-16.
- 7.Susan Rankaitis entry, Smithsonian American Art Museum.
- 8.Farrah Karapetian | Current & Upcoming Activity.
- 9.Susan Rankaitis: Grey Matters | Artsy.
- 10.Susan Rankaitis bio, Robert Mann Gallery.
- 11.KNIGHT, CHRISTOPHER. Poetic Lyricism, Poise in the Art of 'Science'. Los Angeles Times. 2000-06-14. 0458-3035.
- 12.Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibition records, 1973-2003 EXH.001.001. www.oac.cdlib.org.
- 13.Design X Demo Selected-Solo-Exhibitions 1. Design X Demo.
- 14.Academics Faculty Profile. www.scrippscollege.edu.
- 15.Rankaitis, Susan The Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago.
- 16.Museum of Contemporary Photography. www.mocp.org.
- 17.Susan Rankaitis LACMA Collections. collections.lacma.org.
- 18.Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. cantorcollections.stanford.edu.
- 19.Susan Rankaitis Princeton University Art Museum. artmuseum.princeton.edu.
- 20.Susan Rankaitis. SFMOMA.
- 21.Student Affairs Giving - Contemporary Art Purchasing Program. www.sagiving.umd.edu.
- 22.Chin/The Arousing (Shock Thunder), Susan Anne Rankaitis ^ Minneapolis Institute of Art. collections.artsmia.org.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
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General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
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Formation and teaching. Rankaitis studied at University of Illinois System and University of Southern California. Her recorded influences include László Moholy-Nagy. Connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Recognition and collections
Work by Susan Rankaitis is
Art Institute of Chicago, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum
Within the Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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