The Art of Suits – Samara Shuter

One of the gifts of blogging about art over a long time is seeing young artists develop into their talent. Take Samara Shuter, for example. When I first wrote about her in 2012, she had created a buzz and was beginning to rise. A self-taught artist who began her work life in film production, you could see the talent blooming.

Today, her start-up graffiti and comic book style has given way to large-scale paintings that fuse stylized figurative work with intricately abstracted patterns, sought by buyers and galleries. And although suits remain the focus, there are also other outfits, cars, bikes and sometimes even horses (see her Originals section here)

But it’s the expertly colour blocked suits – and the size of the works, and the fact that she never paints the faces of the men wearing the clothing – that have led to myriad exhibitions across North America. Her work is currently a focus at the S16 Gallery in Montreal, and her reputation is growing internationally.

“Attracted to symmetricality and elegance, Shuter identifies the suit as the most basic kind of uniform and explores its implications of male dominance and societal pressure in her work,” S16 Gallery says.

There seemed to be a pent-up demand for her lush canvases after the strict controls of the pandemic ended. See more about that in this youtube video dated a year ago from Shuter’s new studio.

Shuter’s work has been showcased throughout Canada and the U.S. at such sites as the Rockefeller Center in NYC and the Bronx Museum of the Arts. She has been sought out by established brands such as Facebook, Timberland Shoes, the Toronto International Film Festival, Microsoft, Schott, CHANEL, Saks Fifth Avenue and Saturday Night Live for special projects featuring her art.

Samara Shuter’s website, here.

Her Instagram, here.

Previous Art Junkie post, 2012, here.

Image at top of post: Down by the Bay, Acrylic, Oil, Pastel, and Oil Stick on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas. 60 x 96″