Suellen Rocca

Suellen Rocca (born 1943) is a Chicago artist, one of the original Chicago Imagists, a group in the 1960s and 1970s who turned to representational art. She exhibited with them at the Hyde Park Art Center from 1966 through 1969. She is curator of the art collection and director of exhibitions at Elmhurst College.

Suellen Krupp grew up in a middle class, Jewish family in Chicago. Her parents were both jewelers. She began attending classes at the Art Institute of Chicago when she was in elementary school. In 1960, at age 16, she began college at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. There, she was heavily influenced by Ray Yoshida. She married her husband, Dennis Rocca, in 1962. He brought home jewelry catalogues that informed Rocca's artistic style. Following graduation, she one of The Hairy Who, one of the groups of artists that made up the Chicago Imagists. Then, Rocca had two children and continued her work as an artist. In 1970, she took a decade away from making art.

In 2015, Rocca's work was displayed in New York City at Matthew Marks Gallery, her first New York show in over 20 years. The show featured Rocca's works made between 1965 and 1969. Rocco teaches painting, design, and drawing at Elmhurst College. She is the director of the Art Exhibition and Visiting Artist Program, and the curator and director of exhibitions.

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