Suzanne Clifford Bloom, a Houston-based artist and educator, who was part of the artistic duo MANUAL, died on February 4, 2025.
Suzanne Bloom
Ms. Bloom was born on November 25, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts before receiving her BFA (1965) and MFA (1968) from the University of Pennsylvania. From 1969 to 1970, Ms. Bloom worked at Pennsylvania State University. In 1970, she took a position at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
During her time at Smith, Ms. Bloom met Edward Hill. In 1974, the pair married, and soon after established MANUAL, a collaborative project through which they produced photography, videos, multimedia projects, and installations. Regarding the pseudonym, the artists wrote on their website, “We chose to call ourselves MANUAL, a word with several connotations open to numerous interpretations.”
Edward Hill and Suzanne Bloom
In 1976, both Ms. Bloom and Mr. Hill were invited to teach at the University of Houston by George Bunker, then-Chair of the Department of Art. The artists taught at the university until their respective retirements, Ms. Bloom in 2012 and Mr. Hill in 2005.
Suzanne Bloom and Ed Hill (MANUAL): Research and Collaboration, the duo’s first major exhibition, was presented by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) in 1980. A few years later, the Moody Gallery began representing MANUAL. In 1992, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston presented their experimental installation FOREST\PRODUCTS. A decade later, the International Center of Photography in New York organized and presented MANUAL: Two Worlds, The Collaboration of Ed Hill and Suzanne Bloom. The show was later expanded and exhibited at the MFAH.
MANUAL’s work has been exhibited in institutions across the U.S. and internationally, including V.S.G. Gallery in Torino, Italy; the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago; Herron Gallery in Indianapolis; the Moscow Multimedia Museum of Modern Art in Moscow, Russia; the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, New Hampshire; and others.
Suzanne Bloom, “Genesis of A Music,” 2024, archival pigment print, (printers proof), 46 1/4 x 33 inches
In 2024 MANUAL’s exhibition BEECH // BOOK: An Emblematic Pairing, celebrated the pair’s 50-year artistic partnership. The show took place at Moody Gallery, in conjunction with the 2024 FotoFest Biennial. It showcased works created through MANUAL’s 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography.
In a remembrance, Robert Boyd, artist, curator, and arts writer, spoke of the artists noting: “To quote Belle and Sebastian, Suzanne Bloom and Ed Hill were wrapped up in books. Their work wasn’t literary — it wasn’t about marrying the written word with the photographed image. It was about books as physical objects, as codices. They celebrated the physical qualities of a book, including the fact that books are made out of forests.”
The Moody Gallery will host a celebration of Ms. Bloom’s life, however, the date has not yet been announced.
1 comment
Suzanne was the reason I applied to the University of Houston years ago and I’m so glad I had her as a mentor and friend. As a graduate student, I was both in awe and a little scared of her. She was one of the most intelligent and observant people I have ever met, and it felt like she could see straight through you, recognizing all your vulnerabilities. She didn’t fill silence with empty words, and she didn’t let you take shortcuts. Her questions, always thoughtful and probing, unraveled my thinking in ways that left me reflecting long after the conversation ended. These weren’t “gotcha” questions, but rather genuine inquiries from a brilliant mind who was deeply curious and invested in the people she cared about. She would send me newspaper clippings and links to stories even after I graduated and was incredibly generous with her time and thoughts whenever I needed her feedback. She was such a treasure to me and many others in the community.