Artist Statement                  

I’m interested in visual oppositions, particularly the tangible versus the intangible, the two-dimensional versus the three dimensional, and the graphic versus the atmospheric. I have been working from flat silhouettes that I cut out and mount on highly reflective paper. I place these shapes in a context out of time and illuminate them with a single strong top light. I then create drawings from them, where the process can last several days, pushing and pulling endless amounts of subtle information.

I gravitate towards shapes with specific gestures within them. The representation of motion or cause-and-effect informs my selection of silhouettes. I find them appealing in their odd and playful way, and I think of them as symbols referencing nature, but influenced by a digital world.

Biography

Michael DeLuca is a visual artist from Philadelphia, PA, currently living and working in Paoli, PA. He creates pastel drawings inspired by simple shapes of cut white paper. His shapes are minimal, cold, and static, but he uses them to create drawings that are boundless, poetic, and full of life. DeLuca composes with only a few elements (the shape, the black space, the reflection, and the ominous pool of light that surrounds it all). Ultimately his awkward, but earnest, shapes take on figurative characteristics that playfully comment on the human condition.

His work has been exhibited in recent contemporary drawing exhibitions including: “Drawing Resurfaced II” at Purdue University Galleries, “The Great Lakes Drawing Biennial” at Eastern Michigan University School of Art & Design, and “Drawn” at Manifest Gallery. His work is also scheduled to appear in Manifest Gallery’s upcoming International Drawing Publication, “INDA 12” this coming spring.

He has exhibited nationally including: Philadelphia, New York, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio. His work has appeared in New American Paintings multiple times, and he was the recipient of CFEVA’s (Center for Emerging Visual Artists) Artist Fellowship.

He currently teaches at Arcadia University where he is an Assistant Professor of Drawing in the Department of Visual & Performing Arts.

Recent Exhibitions

2018     Works On/Of Paper, BrickRed Gallery, New Orleans, LA Black & White;  Bauhaus Prairie Online Gallery  

2017      Drawing Resurfaced II, Purdue University Galleries, Lafayette, IN; Great Lakes Drawing Biennial, Eastern Michigan University School of Art and Design, MI; Drawn, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio; Black and White, Art Fusion Gallery, Palm Springs, CA; Black and White, Colors of Humanity Online Gallery  

2016      Revolutions in Making: VPA Faculty Exhibition, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

2014       On the Persistence of Drawing: VPA Faculty Exhibition, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

2012        Scale 1:1, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA

2007        Annual New Talent Show, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 2006; Emerging Artist Exhibition, Artists House Gallery, Philadelphia, PA