Mary DeVincentis “Wild Awake”

Freight + Volume (39 Lispenard St.)

[Image: Mary DeVincentis "Wild Awake" (2023) Oil on canvas, 60h x 72w in.]

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Freight + Volume presents Wild Awake, an exhibition of new paintings by Mary DeVincentis.

Wild Awake is a powerful anthology of Mary DeVincentis’s recent paintings. The show’s title draws inspiration from a pivotal moment in Mary Oliver’s poem Gethsemane, which alludes to Jesus, alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying before his arrest and crucifixion. In Oliver’s telling, it is nature alone that remains “wild awake”, the sole witness to his suffering. His disciples can’t stay conscious; they sleep while Jesus prays. By skillfully pairing the characters in her paintings with nature in its elemental forms, DeVincentis weaves multi-dimensional narratives and erases the arbitrary hierarchies between humans, animals and nature itself, thus restoring a sense of harmony, balance and unity to the world. In this world, all of life is equally awake.

Her compositions often divide the canvas into distinct horizontal planes. Narratives often take shape in the lower half of the canvases, leaving spacious areas above where sky, sun, water and other natural elements envelop our vision in a broad spectrum of symphonious colors: from blue to pale green, through oranges and yellows, turquoise and lavender.

In O Brother Bird, we see Saint Francis conversing with a small brown bird under a hypnagogic sky that brings to mind the music of the spheres. Also highlighting a mutual exchange of blessings, we see Saint Geronimo removing a thorn from a lion’s paw in the painting When the Stars Gather Round, and Saint Anthony dialogging with flying fish in Miracle of the Sea. In DeVincentis’s world there is no qualitative difference between the divine and the mundane.

Wild Awake is a captivating exhibition of Mary DeVincentis’s recent paintings, where nature remains “wild awake” as the witness to human experiences. Her compositions beautifully blend human narratives with the elemental forces of nature, erasing boundaries and restoring harmony to the world. DeVincentis’s work invites viewers into a multi-dimensional realm where divine and mundane coexist, where heroes and villains challenge patriarchal norms, and where the Divine Feminine transcends gender. This powerful anthology is a testament to DeVincentis’s skillful storytelling through painting, and it offers a unique exploration of the interconnectedness of life. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience Wild Awake at Freight + Volume from October 13th to November 11th, 2023, at 39 Lispenard Street.

Mary Devincentis employs a deeply personal iconography to investigate the dilemmas and mysteries of existence. Her paintings depict people, animals and elements of nature as equal in significance and numinosity. Her September 2022 solo exhibition Walking with Ghosts at Tappeto Volante Projects was inspired by the 12th century Persian poem The Conference of the Birds and was reviewed in the January 2023 edition of Art Forum. Previous NYC solo exhibits include Alone in This Together at M. David and Co, Out There, also at M. David and Co and Dwellers on the Threshold at David & Schweitzer Contemporary. Ongoing series include Dark Matters, paintings which investigate the shadowy side of human experience and Sin Eaters, works which depict society’s saints, martyrs, scapegoats and outcasts. DeVincentis earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Maryland Institute College of Art and was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Printmaking from St. Martin’s College of Art in London, UK. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in many public and private collections. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.