Paula De Luccia: Paintings and Sculptures

10 February - 30 March 2024
Installation Views
Press release

The works of Paula De Luccia present an intense interplay of wild   and vibrant hues, evoking a tactile experience. From raw and coarsely layered   energy to painterly abstraction, Paula injects visceral urgency and palpable   forcefulness. Rendering intense acrylic colors, the discernible specks up close   transform into disembodied, chromatic colors washing across the canvas like   captured sunlight from a distance.

 

De Luccia navigates a nuanced mental dialogue, sometimes disquieting chatter   she attempts to suppress, while at other times it hums along in the background.   What she creates is a combination of everything she has observed and experienced.

 

Her works embody the profound influence of Abstract Expressionism, drawing   inspiration from esteemed female artists like Grace Hartigan, Lee Krasner, Helen   Frankenthaler, and Elaine de Kooning. A particularly impactful moment unfolded   when a large yellow painting by Jules Olitski etched a lasting impression on her.

 

Born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1953, Paula De Luccia studied at Ridgewood School   of Art, New Jersey, from 1971 to 1973 where she encountered the works of Abstract   Expressionist artists Barnett Newman, Frank Stella, and Larry Poons. She spent a   year at Kansas City Art Institute in 1974. Later that year, De Luccia relocated   to New York City and first exhibited in a group exhibition 35 Miles of Art, Nelson   Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City.

 

Her works extend to both public and private collections, including City of Barcelona,   Spain, Art/Omi in Ghent, New York, Jules & Kristina Olitski, and Paul Jenkins.   Her contribution in the art world is recognised with awards of Who’s Who of   American Women, 24th Edition in 2004, Art Triangle Barcelona, Spain in 1987,   and Scholastic Achievement Award for Art, MRHS, Haledon, NJ in 1971.

Works
Overview

Corkin Gallery is pleased to present the first exhibition in Toronto by New York artist. Paula De Luccia. Her practice has always been innate — a conversation that moves between her and her materials. Working in her studio or on the road, De Luccia’s source material comes from her surroundings in places such as Washington states’ Whidbey Island, areas in France such as Aix, Brittany and Anduze, or the open roads of the United States.

 

As an avid gardener, De Luccia is instinctively tuned in to what she can control and what she cannot. This awareness takes form in her works, which are both an act of intention and one of reflection. Allowing the materials to create their own relationships while relegating herself to an observational role, De Luccia is as committed to looking as she is to making.

 

De Luccia was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1953 the sixth of nine children. She excelled in art throughout her childhood. Upon graduating high school she received the scholastic achievement award for art. She studied at the Ridgewood School of Art in New Jersey where she met abstract sculptor and painter, Peter Reginato. De Luccia continued her studies at the Kansas City Art Institute.

 

She moved to New York City in 1974 and was introduced to many artists including. Dan Christensen, Kikuo Saito, and Francine Tint. In 1977 De Luccia and Larry Poons began their long-term relationship living together in a loft on Broadway. Their neighbors in the building included Elaine de Kooning, Jules Olitski, and Paul Jenkins.

 

De Luccia and Poons have been co-instructors at the Art Students League of NY since 1997.   De Luccia’s work is included in numerous private collections in North and South America, and Europe. She was a participant in the Triangle Artist Workshop in Barcelona in 1987 and was an inaugural resident at Art Omi, in Omi, New York in 1992.

 

Her most recent exhibition was Kikuo Saito and Friends: New York City Downtown and Beyond 1970s and 1980s, May 13 – December 17, 2023 curated by Karen Wilkin. The group exhibition comprised 22 seminal artists of the abstract movement including Anthony Caro,   Dan Christensen, Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Poons, and Kenneth Noland.

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