Suzy Spence

Based in Montpelier and Brooklyn, Spence is an equestrian who just two years ago began riding with Green Mountain Hounds in so-called drag hunts — in which mounted hunters chase the scent of a fox rather than the animal itself. She is also an artist who draws on the genteel world of fox hunting to express social commentary on gender, power, class and violence. A selection of her gestural, brushy figurative paintings is on view at Helen Day Art Center in Stowe through August 24, guest-curated by Amy Rahn. While equestrian sartorial trappings are recognizable in many of the works, Spence’s moody portraits and genre scenes hint at more universal psychological dramas. The exhibition’s title, “On the Hunt,” only reinforces dualities of rider and ridden, hunter and quarry.