Los Angeles, California

Susan Anderson's documentary portrait series, High Glitz, is shot on location at several of America's child beauty pageants. Setting up her studio amidst the colorful spectacle, she captures the young girls at the height of their performance. Hours of preparation are spent on each child's appearance, and her camera records it all in graphic detail. Children's pageants are a fascinating subculture, but more than anything they represent a strange microcosm of America itself. Our own values of beauty, success and glamour reflected in the dreams of thousands of young girls... Anderson is a Los Angeles-based fine art, commercial, and editorial photographer specializing in portraiture, beauty, fashion, and conceptual work. After earning her BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, Anderson relocated to Los Angeles in 2001. Her editorial work has appeared in a variety of magazines including, Los Angeles, People, Glamour and Playboy. Chronicle books commissioned her to illustrate their wildly successful series of humorous trade paperbacks, Porn for Women, and the sequel, Porn for New Moms. Her fine art work is represented by PATRICK PAINTER INC, Los Angeles, and by TORCH Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Current / Upcoming

State of Mind: A California Invitational. The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California, February 5-June 6, 2010. A celebration of California photography in the 21st century. Twenty-one California photographers will be exhibited including Mona Kuhn, Todd Hido, Michael Light, Susan Rankaitis, Ken Gonzales-Day and Uta Barth. Curated by Carol McCusker.

The Brothel Without Walls. CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival. University of Toronto Art Center (UTAC). May 1-June 13, 2010. An international group exhibition that will be a focal point of the city-wide festival, CONTACT 2010: Pervasive Influence. In 1964 Marshall McLuhan wrote of the photograph as "the brothel without walls". This exhibition will consider McLuhan's metaphor within today's global culture.

THINK PINK. Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida. February 13-March 20, 2010. Group exhibition, curated by Beth DeWoody.

Women of Women-The Female Form. Taylor de Cordoba Gallery, Los Angeles, California. January 16-February 20, 2010. Group exhibition curated by Yasmine Mosheni.

Solo Exhibitions

HIGH GLITZ acte2galerie, Paris, France. May 6-June 10 2010

HIGH GLITZ Kopeikin Gallery, West Hollywood, California. October 24-December 24, 2009.

HIGH GLITZ TORCH Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. January 29-February 21, 2009.

Group Exhibitions

THINK PINK. Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida. February 13-March 20, 2010. Group exhibition, curated by Beth DeWoody.

Women of Women-The Female Form. Taylor de Cordoba Gallery, Los Angeles, California. January 16-February 20, 2010. Group exhibition curated by Yasmine Mosheni.

Achtung Baby. A group exhibition at the Gemeente[museum]Helmond The Netherlands. June 6-Sept 9, 2009. Achtung Baby focused on the following themes: hedonism, the condition humaine' adolescence, consumerism and the quest for beauty and glamour. The show featured works from the permanent collection and recent acquisitions from the following artists: Thomas Wrede (D), Jason and Carlos Sanchez (CAN), Susan Anderson (USA) and David Goldbold (UK). In addition, the museum installations by Yael Bartana (IL) and Koen Hauser, images of Merijn Bolink and Maria Roosen, an animated film by Lars Arrhenius (S) and video clips of Anton Corbijn.

Sexy Time: A Group Effort. An exhibition of emerging and mid-career artists working in a variety of media. This exhibition addressed the multiple ways we filter, confront, and communicate sexuality through humor and satirical means. Humor is often used as a coping mechanism to confront loaded issues such as sex, desire, violence, and politics. Morgan/Lehman Gallery, New York, June 5- August 8, 2008.

Sugar and Spice. An exhibition of color photographs by Susan Anderson, Amy Stevens and Alex Prager. These three contribute their own visual perspectives on our society's obsessive desire to dress up, decorate and dramatize. Curated by Anne Palleson, Photographic Center NW, Seattle, Washington, May 2-28, 2008.

HEF. This group exhibition explored the legacy of Hugh Hefner and Playboy magazine. Curated by Christopher Pate, Jail Gallery, Los Angeles, March 29 - May 3, 2008.

EGO. A Study in Portraiture. Part 01: Photography. Works by Susan Anderson, Heather Cantrell, Eduardo Consuegra, Leigh Ledare, Peter Lograsso, Samantha Magowan, Steven Schkolne and Carrie Yury. Jail Gallery, Los Angeles. August 25- September 22, 2007.

From Steel to Flesh. On the occasion of Gary, Indiana, hosting the Miss America Beauty Pageant, the University of Indiana concurrently featured an exhibition addressing Maleness today. Curated by Lisa Wainwright, Professor of Art History and Criticism, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2001).

PINK! An exhibition addressing the implications of the color Pink as interpreted by a variety of female artists. Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, Illinois. Curated by Lisa Wainwright, Professor of Art History and Criticism, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. (1997)

Publications / Books

HIGH GLITZ, The Extravagant World of Child Beauty Pageants, PowerHouse Books, Brooklyn, New York. USA. October 2009.