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Abigail DeVille


Biography

Born in 1981 in New York (USA). Lives and works in New York (USA). 

She trained in painting at Yale University and the New York Fashion Institute of Technology. She creates part-archaic, part-Afrofuturist sculptures and installations using rubbish and found objects, such as the wooden door and four brooms that make up Talismán, continuing the tradition of assemblage developed in the United States and Europe.

 

 

 


For DeVille, the History is recorded in these objects – which are often items from everyday life – that are the receptacles of lost voices. When she talks of her work, she recalls the unfailing optimism of the African-American communities in the face of the weight of the past, and readily recites the Martin Luther King's final speech: “But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” 

Abigail DeVille's work has been exhibited at Punta Della Dogana (Venice), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington DC), Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (St Louis), Institute of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), The Studio Museum in Harlem (New York), the Pinchuk Art Centre (Kiev), New Museum (New York), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam). She has received honors fellow at The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, Creative Capital grantee, received a OBIE Award for design, and nomiated for The Future Generation Art Prize in 55th Biennale di Venezia. She was in residence at the American Academy in Rome in 2017-2018. 

Her work is part of prestigious collections as Pinault Collection, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (MBMA), Kadist Art Foundation (San Francisco), Kaviar Factory (Henningsvaer), The Bronx Museum of the Arts (Bronx), The Studio Museum (Harlem), Centre National des Arts Plastiques (Paris), among others. She teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore), and she's a visiting critic at the Yale School of Art (New Haven) and Columbia University MFA program (New-York).


Selected works

Coltello, Cuchillo, knifed, Abigail DeVille
Moon Meditations for Martin II, Abigail DeVille
Native Tongue, Abigail DeVille
Mad Lion, Abigail DeVille
Jeffersonian Vacuum, Abigail DeVille
.0001 Pour Cent, Abigail DeVille
Day 2, Abigail DeVille
Day 1, Abigail DeVille
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Museum exhibitions

NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, USA

NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, USA

NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, USA

NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, USA

Swiss Institute, New York, USA

Swiss Institute, New York, USA

Swiss Institute, New York, USA

Swiss Institute, New York, USA

Pioneer Works Centre for Art and Innovation, New York, 2021

Pioneer Works Centre for Art and Innovation, New York, 2021

Pioneer Works Centre for Art and Innovation, New York, 2021

Pioneer Works Centre for Art and Innovation, New York, 2021

Madison Square Park, New York, 2020

Madison Square Park, New York, 2020

Madison Square Park, New York, 2020

Madison Square Park, New York, 2020

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Abigail DeVille -

Lux et Veritas, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, USA, 2022

Abigail DeVille -

Lux et Veritas, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, USA, 2022

Abigail DeVille -

Beneath Tongues, (cur. Sable Elyse Smith), Swiss Institute, New York, USA, 2022

Abigail DeVille -

Beneath Tongues, (cur. Sable Elyse Smith), Swiss Institute, New York, USA, 2022

Abigail DeVille -

Brand New Heavies (cur. Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas), Pioneer Works Centre for Art and Innovation, New York, USA, 2021

Abigail DeVille -

Brand New Heavies (cur. Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas), Pioneer Works Centre for Art and Innovation, New York, USA, 2021

Abigail DeVille -

Light of Freedom, organized by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Martin Friedman, Tom Reidy, Madison Square Park, New York NY, USA, 2020, ph. Tonje Thilesen

Abigail DeVille -

Light of Freedom, organized by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Martin Friedman, Tom Reidy, Madison Square Park, New York NY, USA, 2020, ph. Andy Romer

Abigail DeVille -

Light of Freedom, organized by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Martin Friedman, Tom Reidy, Madison Square Park, New York NY, USA, 2020, ph. Andy Romer

Abigail DeVille -

Untitled, 2020. Trois regards sur l'art d'aujourd'hui, cur. Caroline Bourgeois, Muna El Fituri, Thomas Houseago, Punta della Dogana, Venise, Italy, 2020

Abigail DeVille -

The American Future, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Pica), Portland, USA, 2019. Ph.Evan LaLonde

Abigail DeVille -

The American Future, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Pica), Portland, USA, 2019. Ph.Evan LaLonde

Abigail DeVille -

The American Future, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Pica), Portland, USA, 2019. Ph.Evan LaLonde

Abigail DeVille -

Lift Every Voice and Sing (amerikanskie gorki), ICA Miami, USA, 2017

Abigail DeVille -

No Space Hidden (Shelter), Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), USA, 2017

Abigail DeVille -

No Space Hidden (Shelter), Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), USA, 2017

Abigail DeVille -

A Picture of the Universe in Clock Time, site specific installation for Momentum 9, The Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway, 2017

Abigail DeVille -

A Picture of the Universe in Clock Time, site specific installation for Momentum 9, The Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway, 2017

Abigail DeVille -

Platform, The Armory show, Michel Rein booth, cur. Eric Shiner, New York, USA, 2017

Abigail DeVille -

Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947-2016, Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2016

Abigail DeVille -

Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947-2016, Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2016

Abigail DeVille -

Landmark, Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, New York, USA, 2016

Abigail DeVille -

Only When It's Dark Enough Can You See The Stars, Peale Museum, Baltimore, USA, 2016

Abigail DeVille -

Only When It's Dark Enough Can You See The Stars, Peale Museum, Baltimore, USA, 2016

Abigail DeVille -

Only When It's Dark Enough Can You See The Stars, Peale Museum, Baltimore, USA, 2016

Abigail DeVille -

From the Ruins..., 601 Artspace, New York, USA, 2015, ph. by Rafafel Gamo

Abigail DeVille -

Armory Show, Michel Rein Paris/Brussels, New York, USA, 2015

Abigail DeVille -

Material Histories: Artists in Residence 2013-14 (cur. by Lauren Haynes), Studio Museum, Harlem, USA, 2014

Abigail DeVille -

Material Histories: Artists in Residence 2013-14 (cur. by Lauren Haynes), Studio Museum, Harlem, USA, 2014

Abigail DeVille -

Material Histories: Artists in Residence 2013-14 (cur. by Lauren Haynes), Studio Museum, Harlem, USA, 2014

Abigail DeVille -

Future Generation Prize Exhibition, PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine, 2012

Abigail DeVille -

Future Generation Prize Exhibition, The 55th Venice Biennial, Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Venice, Italy, 2013

Abigail DeVille -

Future Generation Prize Exhibition, The 55th Venice Biennial, Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Venice, Italy, 2013

Abigail DeVille -

XXXXXXX, Iceberg Project, Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2013

Abigail DeVille -

Future Generation Prize Exhibition, PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine, 2012

Abigail DeVille -

Future Generation Prize Exhibition, PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine, 2012

Abigail DeVille -

Fore, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, USA, 2012

Abigail DeVille -

The Ungovernables, The New Museum Triennial, New York, USA, 2012

Abigail DeVille -

First Among Equals, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, USA, 2012

Abigail DeVille -

Artist residency, Iscp, New York, USA, 2012

Abigail DeVille -

Installation view, Deitch Studios, Long Island City, USA, 2009


Videos

DOCUMENTARY

Abigail DeVille: "Light of Freedom"

DOCUMENTARY

Through her immersive performances and installation works, Abigail DeVille celebrates the bravery and optimism - while also memorializing the suffering - embedded within the African American experience.


Press

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Publications

Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens

Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens

Publisher: The Bronx Museum

2022

Fore

Fore

Publisher: The Studio Museum in Harlem

2012


Portfolio