Suzanne Jackson: What Is Love

by Kellie Jones, Jenny Gheith (editor), Taylor Aldridge (contributor)

288 pages, Hardcover

Published September 9, 2025

About the author

Kellie Jones is a recipient of a 2016 MacArthur "genius" Grant and Associate Professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. She is the author of several books and exhibition catalogues, including South of Pico: African American Artists in Los Angeles in the 1960s, Eyeminded: Living and Writing Contemporary Art and 1970sEnergy/Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction, 1964–1980; Basquiat; and (with Thelma Golden and Chrissie Iles) Lorna Simpson.

Reviews

[Aberjhani · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE LIFE AND CAREER OF A GENUINE SURVIVOR AND TRIUMPHANT VISIONARY

Art books done as superbly, and as appropriately, as SUZANNE JACKSON WHAT IS LOVE, are rare these days. That’s not too surprising given the cost of publishing a book as beautifully illustrated with archive photos and contemporary artwork as this one. Clearly, Princeton University Press felt Jackson's amazing story (at this point spanning eight-plus decades) and her incredible art deserve the efforts and resources committed to showcasing them in this impressive volume printed in Italy. The end result is a masterful work that you don’t simply read and put away, but that you revisit, share, discuss with friends and students, and savor in quiet meditative moments.

This title expands on the biographical profile of Jackson first presented in the groundbreaking 2019 monograph Suzanne Jackson: Five Decades. As noted by the publisher, essays in the new book “illuminate key facets of Jackson’s wide-ranging practice, considering the influence of her experiences as a dancer, poet, and theater designer; exploring her work’s deep connections with nature, environmentalism, performance, feminism, and Black and Native traditions; and highlighting her commitment to community action…”

Jackson’s story, unfolding in such settings as Alaska, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Savannah, is indeed as captivating as her extraordinary art. The passion with which she has pursued her creative vision for more than half a century while also helping others realize their own is profoundly inspiring.

The fact that this reviewer had the honor of contributing a poem to Suzanne Jackson Five Decades (the same poem was republished in These Black and Blue Red Zone Days ) and is noted in the acknowledgments section of Suzanne Jackson What Is Love, should not be taken as influences on statements herein. Profiles of Jackson in such publications as Vogue Magazine and Forbes Magazine leave no doubt that she stands among the greatest artists of this first half of the 21st century. So do major international exhibitions of her work which, despite the pandemic, have been taking place throughout the 2020s. WHAT IS LOVE both documents and celebrates the life and career of a genuine survivor and triumphant visionary artist.

Aberjhani