Susan Weil’s bold vision at COL Gallery reveals how the artist continues to redefine form, movement and identity.
Susan Weil’s “Muddel” is part of the celebratory exhibit of her work at COL Gallery.
What does it mean to see the world in fragments? For Susan Weil (@susanweilk), it means seeing the world as it truly is—fluid, evolving and endlessly complex. Now 95, Weil has spent more than seven decades deconstructing and reimagining form, and her latest exhibition at San Francisco’s COL Gallery, located in Ghirardelli Square, is a testament to an artistic journey that continues to defy convention.
Weil’s work feels like a conversation with time. A student of Black Mountain College in the late 1940s, she studied under Josef Albers and mingled with luminaries like Ruth Asawa and Elaine de Kooning. Yet despite her deep roots in postwar American art, Weil’s name often drifts under the radar. She has said, “I was working when women were pretty much ignored.” That quiet perseverance makes her work all the more powerful.
Susan Weil’s “Array” reveals the artist’s passion for fluidity and seeing a fragmented world.
At COL Gallery, Weil’s layered, paper-based constructions explode with movement and dynamism. Drawing on influences as varied as Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies and feminist theory, her pieces disassemble the human form only to rebuild it unexpectedly. Figures seem to pulse and shift across surfaces, challenging our understanding of identity, space and perception.
Themes of transformation run deep. Often fragmented and recontextualized, Weil’s exploration of the female body reclaims the form from societal ideals. “When the women’s movement started, that was another focus for me,” she has noted. Each piece asks viewers to grapple with the fluid nature of selfhood—to embrace the incomplete, the in-progress.
Weil’s “Sindhind” showcases her mixed-media genius.
With works housed in significant collections like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MOMA, Weil is finally receiving overdue recognition. At COL Gallery, her latest exhibition offers a powerful reminder: Art is not static. It breathes, evolves and pushes boundaries no matter the decade—like Weil herself. Through May 9, 887 Beach St., 214.695.7047, colgallery.com
