Paula De Luccia: Paintings and Sculptures
Installation views of the exhibition by Paula De Luccia at Corkin Gallery, February 10 - March 30, 2024. Photography by Toni Hafkenscheid.
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.
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Paula De Luccia, Draped Extravagance, 2019 -
Paula De Luccia, Hot Punch, 2022
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Paula De Luccia, Margaret on the Beach Supremo, 2023
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Paula De Luccia, Grace Note, 2015 - 2019
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Paula De Luccia, Long Moment, 2023
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Paula De Luccia, Untitled I, 2019
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Paula De Luccia, Untitled II, 2019
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Paula De Luccia, Head on into a Shadow, 2015
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Paula De Luccia, A Bit Complex, 2023
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Paula De Luccia, Character and Principle, 2019
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Paula De Luccia, Rough Edged Hank, 2018
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Paula De Luccia, Sneaks Through a Door, 2021
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Paula De Luccia, Sandbox, 2023
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Paula De Luccia, Keeping the Stars, 2017
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Paula De Luccia, Flutter, 2023
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Paula De Luccia, Country Gang, 2020 - 2023
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Paula De Luccia, Otello, 2016
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Paula De Luccia, The Stream, 2000
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Paula De Luccia, Harbor Trees and House, 2009
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Paula De Luccia, Madrid, 2000
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Paula De Luccia, Arizona, 2016
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Paula De Luccia, Colorado II, 1994
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Paula De Luccia, Leaving Colorado, 2009
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Paula De Luccia, Saratoga Passage, 2018
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Paula De Luccia, Spruce Trees, 2009
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Paula De Luccia, Split History, 2018
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Paula De Luccia, Severance Play, 2023
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Paula De Luccia, The Sentinals, 2000 - 2005
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Paula De Luccia, Slow Roll, 2005
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Paula De Luccia, Other Places, 2000
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Paula De Luccia, Tenn Forty Four, 2005
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Paula De Luccia, Late Destiny, 2014
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Paula De Luccia, Middle Step, 2000
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Paula De Luccia, Platform, 1989
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Paula De Luccia, Posture, 2000
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Paula De Luccia, Watershed Ten, 2009
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.
