(New Orleans, LA) FERRARA SHOWMAN GALLERY is pleased to announce the debut solo exhibition of New Orleans-based painter Ann Marie Auricchio entitled Burning Inside. The exhibition unveils nine new pieces: five acrylic paintings on canvas and four works on paper in acrylic and gouache. Auricchio’s vibrant and energetic compositions personify fictional landscapes - moments of imaginary geological and meteorological happenings – conveying sentience and station through abstract gesture. While born out of the artist’s own profound and formative life experiences, the universal themes throughout Burning Inside intend to provide the viewer with relation and resonance.

Auricchio says of her newest series . . .

This concentrated series of paintings leans directly into personal experiences that have deeply impacted my state of being, experiencing, and knowing over the past several years. More than the depiction of actual events, I am interested in capturing a visceral vibration that the viewer can connect with.

Throughout my work I turn to nature, the landscape, and the processes of the natural world to act as metaphor for the human condition and journey. The resulting imagery conjures likenesses to underwater volcanic eruptions, falling down woodland paths, and the tangling of vines, bramble, and power lines. Within these worlds I feel safe to explore my emotions and give a visual voice to what feels like a fiery rumble that never quiets.

Some see red- I see Pink. Pink is a loaded color with a history of many associations from royalty to girliness. For me this saturated raging pink speaks directly to a loud, demanding, reclaiming that initially expressed itself through the early punk rock aesthetics of my youth. My choice to work in this palette of luminous fuchsia came from an honest primal scream.

ANN MARIE AURICCHIO is a painter and installation artist living and working in New Orleans, Louisiana. After receiving her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art where she double majored in painting and sculpture, Auricchio merged her disciplines as a scenic artist and designer for film, theater and television. During her 25-year tenure in the entertainment industry, she worked on projects for award-winning classics such as Requiem for a Dream, Broadway’s Lion King, and mega-films like John Wick. In 2019 Auricchio honored her call to shift her creative energy back into her own work, lowered the curtain on her life in production, and embraced her studio practice full time. She has exhibited works nationally in commercial galleries as well as with alternative and institutional spaces such as White Columns NY, the Alexandria Museum LA, and the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans. Auricchio has completed residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center (2021-2022) and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (2023). Included in many private collections, Auricchio’s work also belongs to several corporate collections, including: Azamara Cruise Lines and the Scott Companies.

The exhibition will be on view from 20 December 2023 through 9 February 2024 with an opening reception on Saturday 6 January coinciding with the Arts District of New Orleans’ (ADNO) monthly First Saturday Gallery Openings from 5 – 9 PM.

For more information, press or sales inquiries please contact Gallery Director Matthew Weldon Showman at 504.343.6827 or matthew@ferrarashowman.com. Please join the conversation with FSG on Facebook (@FerraraShowmanGallery), Twitter (@FerraraShowman), and Instagram (@JonathanFerraraGallery) via the hashtags: #AnnMarieAuricchio, #FerraraShowmanGallery, and #ArtsDistrictNewOrleans.