"Overpass" Painting

Sue Graef (b. 1957, Philadelphia, PA) is a contemporary figurative painter celebrated for her vibrant, highly stylized interpretations of the modern landscape. Characterized by intense, saturated color palettes, dramatic compositions, and playfully distorted perspectives, Graef’s work invites viewers to cross the threshold from objective reality into vivid, pattern-driven visual narratives.
Graef’s formal artistic foundation was shaped by her formative training at the Philadelphia College of Art, the Tyler School of Art (1975–1978), and Clemson University. Her distinct aesthetic voice has garnered significant commercial and institutional recognition across the United States. In 2025, she presented her second institutional solo exhibition, Urban Visions, at the Artspace Gallery within the College of Southern Nevada, where she also served as a guest lecturer for the fine arts program.
A prominent fixture in the contemporary art fair circuit, Graef has exhibited extensively at premier national platforms, including Art Miami Context, Art Wynwood, the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, the Affordable Art Fair (New York and Austin), and The Palm Beach Show. Her work has been featured in curated museum exhibitions at the Chihuly Collection Museum (St. Petersburg, FL), the Imagine Museum (St. Petersburg, FL), and the IDEA Museum (Mesa, AZ), as well as prominent commercial spaces such as District Arts Gallery (MD) and Twisted Track Gallery (CA).
In early 2026, Graef’s momentum continued with a major large-scale acquisition for the permanent collection of the prestigious Rosewood Residences of Lido Key, FL. She currently maintains her active studio practice in Florida.

My practice examines the contemporary landscape through a framework of heightened color saturation, flattened geometry, and playfully distorted perspectives. Drawing on my formative training at the Tyler School of Art, I deliberately strip away academic modeling and strict realism. In its place, I implement an architecture of bold patterns, unexpected shapes, and dramatic compositions that challenge traditional pictorial depth.
My paintings function as a deliberate departure from objective reality into a universe of imagined urban, suburban, and coastal narratives. By maintaining just enough visual familiarity to remain recognizable, the scenes invite viewers to project their own experiences onto the canvas while simultaneously stepping outside the bounds of the everyday world.