Born in 1973, Mara De Luca lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. De Luca’s paintings evoke a sense of atmospheric abstractions that bring to mind dusk, sunsets, and planetary orbs.  Throughout her work there is a sense of reflected ambient light.

De Luca received an MFA from CalArts, Los Angeles, CA and a BA from Columbia University, NY. Her work has been displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego and is in prominent collections, including the Buck Collection at UC Irvine, Alexander Plaza Berlin, Germany; New York Medical College, New York; and the University of Oslo, Norway. She has been reviewed in Artforum, Cultured Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Artweek LA, and others. De Luca is a recipient of the 2019 California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists.

EDUCATION

2004 M.F.A. California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California
1995 B.A. Columbia University, Department of Visual Arts, New York, New York

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2024

TOTAH, New York, NY, Clockwise

Quint Projects, La Jolla, CA, Capricorn Rising

2022

Nevelson Chapel, New York, NY, Sacred Pause, Sacred Fertilizer (curated by Marly Hammer)

2021

Quint Projects, La Jolla, CA, West Coast Paintings

TOTAH, New York, NY, Lilith and the Sun

2020
TOTAH, New York, NY, The Shadow

2018
TOTAH, New York, NY, Talisman

2017
TOTAH, New York, NY, Group Show


2016
TOTAH, New York, NY, Cosmic Connections
Quint Projects, La Jolla, CA, Lead Me Through the Dawn
Edward Cella Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, Driving Sunset
Nancy Toomey Fine Art, San Francisco, CA, Gathering Light
Grossmont College Hyde Art Gallery, El Cajon, CA, Under Pressure


2015
Holly Hunt, Miami, FL, Vice City
Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA, Atmospheric Abstraction: Larry Bell, Gisela Colon, Mara de Luca and Heather Gwen Martin
Royale Projects, Palm Desert, CA, Transcending Cool: Tripping Through California Abstraction
Arena 1, Santa Monica, CA, The Bliss Point
Edward Cella Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, Unbound
Cypress College Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Surface to Edge
Outpost Projects, Joshua Tree, CA, Promo Lane


2014
Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, Freeway Studies #2: Inside the Quad


2013
Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA, Even if the Lights Go Out
Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Cruise Collections 2013
Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA, Elegies: A Project in Print (Artist in Residence)
Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Expo Chicago: Mara de Luca and Heather Gwen Martin
Andrew Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, De Stil(Curated by Carl Berg)
Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA, Searchin’: Los Angeles and the Quest for the Sublime (curated by Mary Coyne)
LA Mart, Los Angeles, CA, MAS: Attack (Mutual Appreciation Society)


2012
PULSE Miami, Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, The New Moderns: Matter Beyond Surface
Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, The Crash of Ruin Fitfully Resounds(curated by Carole Ann Klonarides)
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA, ARTrageous


2011
Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA, Saltus Fidei/Leap of Faith
POST Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Abstract Smallness
Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, Imminent Domain II
West Los Angeles Community Collage, Los Angeles, CA, W.O.P.: Imminent Domain Part One


2010
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, Cerca Series: Mara de Luca
Glendale College Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Air Pressure


2007
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, Suburban Sublime


2006
Overtones Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Decoys and Destructions: Nancy Buchanan, Mara de Luca, Hillary Mushkin, Martha Rosler


2005
INCOGNITO 2005, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica


2004
Wind Tunnel, Pasadena, CA, Supersonic


2003
Gallery D301, Calarts, Valencia, CA, Transit: Video Works
Studio 18, Los Angeles, CA, Drawings


2002
Abstruse Space, London, UK, 911: Flags and Mannah
Galerie Chromosome, Berlin, Germany, Political Pop: Mara de Luca and David Cerny
Galerie Chromosome at Art Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany, Venus Project: Mara de Luca and Veronika Drahotova


2001
Galerie Chromosome, Berlin, Germany, Text and Textur

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2021

“Mara De Luca - Lilith and the Sun.” Artforum Online - Must See Guide, June 2021.

2019

Latiolais, Cecilia. “Shades of the City.” LALA Magazine, Spring Issue 2019.

2018
Cohen, Alina. “The Artists Who Have Made the Night Sky Their Muse.” Artsy, 2018.


2017
McCarthy, Chelsea. “Home is Where the Art is For Artist Mara De Luca.” Fullest, Fall/Winter 2017.


2016
Hudson, Suzanne. “Atmospheric Abstraction.” ArtForum, March 2016.
Zara, Janelle. “The Twenty-Five.” Cultured Magazine, Winter Issue 2015/2016.


2015
Doctorcyzk-Donohue, Marlena. “Unbound at Edward Cella Art and Architecture.” Art Ltd, July/August 2015.
Williams, Maxwell. “A Group Show at Edward Cella’s New Location Allows Painting to Be Itself.” Artsy, May 2015.


2013
Reel, Erik. “An Interview with Mara De Luca.” Society805.com, June 2013.


2012
Harnish, Tracey. “Thirteen Questions: Interview with Mara De Luca.” Artweek LA, April 2012.
Myers, Holly. “Pacific Standard Time: Young Artists Talk About the Sweeping Exhibit.” The Los Angeles Times, January 2012.


2011
Reel, Erik. “Mara De Luca at Luis De Jesus.” Society805.com, December 2011.
Harnish, Tracey. “Mara De Luca: Leap of Faith.” The Huffington Post, November 2011.


2006
Myers, Holly. “Generational Differences.” The Los Angeles Times, December 2006.


2002
Herbert, Martin. “Mara De Luca: Abstruse Space.” Time Out London, July 2002.
Wendenburg, Christina. “New Pop.” Tip Berlin Magazine, June 2002.


2000
“Faszination Weiblichkeit.” !zene Magazin, August 2000.
Savelsberg, Claudia. “Licht, Schatten und Stimmung…” Nordbayerischer Kurier, July 2000.
Piontek, Frank. “Die Rauten einer Berliner Romantik.” Nordbayerischer Kurier, July 2000.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2013
Elegies Editioned Boxed Prints


2010
Believe in Yourself Material Press Online Artist Project

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

British American Tobacco, Germany
Universitetets Kunstsamling University of Oslo, Norway Alexander Plaza, Berlin, Germany
New York Medical College, New York

SELECTED AWARDS

UC Riverside Professional Development Award
2009 The Durfee Foundation Artist’s Resource for Completion Grant
2002, 2003 CalArts Scholarship Award
2002 British American Tobacco Traveling Exhibition Grant
2001-2003 Berufsverband Bildende Kuenstler: Atelier Buero Studio Subsidy Award