Ann Marie Auricchio
Press Release
FERRARA SHOWMAN GALLERY is excited to announce the second exhibition in its seasonal, online exclusive series. Crescendo unveils the newest suite of paintings and collages by New Orleans-based artist Ann Marie Auricchio. The exhibition marks the debut of her latest development in her studio practice since closing her premiere solo exhibition at the gallery in February 2024 - presenting five shaped-paintings on panel and five of their respective, collaged printed-paper studies. Furthermore, one piece from the exhibition will be on view at the gallery and will be rotated throughout the run of the show. The gallery’s 2025 winter edition of the online exclusive will be on view from 1 January through 31 March and works will be available for in-person viewing upon request.
Auricchio discusses this new body of work . . .
My artistic practice originates from a raw visceral space where I create emotionally driven paintings capturing the tension between nature’s immense power and human vulnerability. Inspired by imagined geological and atmospheric shifts, the abstract gestures within my work reflect the emotional impact of external forces on our internal landscapes.
My mark making has almost always been accumulative (suggestive of mounting experiences, and a crescendo of adrenaline). A notable shift in my process in the past year has been the use of dissection and reformulation as a method of building. The genesis of my newest work begins with crafting small paper collages, utilizing a blend of copy machine printed images from my past artworks, and landscape photographs captured on my phone. A process akin with the act of processing itself. These collages are a tapestry of intertwined images and textures mined from my life experiences, reconfigured to create entirely new complex forms. These collages then serve as blueprints for large-scale shaped oil paintings.
Allowing each new work to assume its own distinct physical shape, each piece stands as a distinct entity. These large paintings on floating panels shift once again, evoking storms, cosmic explosions, and the fragile balance between reality and perception. I have been reinvigorated by this new process, and also see its infinite space for expansion moving forward.
Press Release cont'd
Ann Marie Auricchio is a New Orleans based painter and installation artist whose vibrant and energetic compositions personify fictional landscapes conveying human sentience and station through abstract gesture. While born out of the artist’s own profound and formative life experiences, the universal themes throughout her work intend to provide the viewer with relation and resonance. Auricchio earned her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (1994). She has attended fully funded residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center (2021/22) and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2023). Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Ferrara Showman Gallery (New Orleans, LA), and Michael Warren Contemporary (Denver, CO). She has participated in many group exhibitions nationally in commercial galleries as well as with alternative and institutional spaces such as White Columns NY, the Painting Center NY, the Alexandria Museum LA, and the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans. Auricchio held a 25-year tenure in the entertainment industry as a scenic artist and designer for film, theater, and television until 2015. She worked on projects for award winning classics such as Requiem for a Dream, Broadway’s Lion King, and mega-films like John Wick. The experiences and skillset acquired through those years have helped inform her installation work, and sense of scale found throughout all her mediums. Included in many private collections, Auricchio’s work also belongs to several corporate collections, including: Azamara Cruise Lines and the Scott Companies.
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 (@FerraraShowmanGallery) via the hashtags: #AnnMarieAuricchio, #FerraraShowmanGallery, and #ArtsDistrictNewOrleans.