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.