Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens
Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens is a constellation of sculptures and installations by the artist who utilizes found materials and objects as a way to unearth forgotten ancestral histories, both real and imagined.
Born in 1981, native New Yorker Abigail DeVille has a deep personal relationship with the city, and a long-established interest in the marginalized histories of marginalized communities of color within it. In Bronx Heavens, the artist takes special consideration in how the Bronx has served as a sanctuary for immigrant and migrant communities for the last 120 years (including four generations of her own ancestors), prompting complex questions and ideas about freedom, racism, and oppression.
DeVille’s work is designed to tell the stories of lived experiences that many could not, offering a humanizing portrayal about the impulses that drive communities to seek a different world in the pursuit of happiness, and how those impulses are often fraught with illusion.
Curated by Eileen Jeng Lynch, Director of Curatorial Programs.
About the Artist
Abigail DeVille’s most recent solo exhibition was Light of Freedom, organized by Madison Square Park Conservancy (2020-21), and traveled to the Momentary at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR (2021) and the Hirshhorn Museum Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (2021-22). Other commissions and solo museum shows include The American Future, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland (2018-19); Lift Every Voice and Sing (amerikanskie gorki) at Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (2017-2018); Empire State Works in Progress (2017) at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; No Space Hidden (Shelter) at Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2017-2018), and Only When It’s Dark Enough Can You See The Stars at The Contemporary, Baltimore (2016).
50th Anniversary
This exhibition is part of Our Stories, Our Voices––a year-long series of exhibitions and public programs celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Bronx Museum of the Arts. To mark this milestone we are celebrating the cultural wealth of our communities and bringing to light the stories, voices, and visions of artists seeking a more just and equitable world.
Thank you to our generous supporters without whom our 50th Anniversary programming would not be possible.
Anonymous; Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Anne Delaney; Agnes Gund; William Talbott Hillman Foundation; Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust; Sciame Construction, LLC; May & Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc.; and, the Bronx Museum’s Board of Trustees.
Exhibition Images
-
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario. -
Installation view of Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens, photography by Argenis Apolinario.
Press
Abigail DeVille’s First Museum Survey at the Bronx Museum of the Arts
A new exhibition at the Bronx Museum of the Arts celebrates the work of Abigail DeVille, a Bronx-based artist who uses found materials on the streets as part of her creations, to reflect the history and struggles of generations of people of color.
Abigail DeVille Illuminates the Majesty of her Hometown
For over a decade, the artist has studied buried Black American histories, infusing them with nuance and magic.
Past Programs
In Conversation: Abigail DeVille, Thelma Golden, Jane Ursula Harris, Brooke Kamin Rapaport
November 19, 2022
Artist Abigail DeVille; Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, The Studio Museum in Harlem; Jane Ursula Harris, writer, curator, and art historian; and Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Deputy Director and Martin Friedman Chief Curator, Madison Square Park Conservancy engaged in conversation about DeVille’s work, the history of the artist’s practice, and the contexts in which DeVille’s work has developed over the last decade. Moderated by Eileen Jeng Lynch, Director of Curatorial Programs at The Bronx Museum, this discussion is in conjunction with the catalogue launch of the artist’s survey “Bronx Heavens.”
Family Guide
Take a look through the family guide for Abigail DeVille: Bronx Heavens below.