Dellamarie Parrilli
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
February 28, 1949
Dellamarie Parrilli | |
|---|---|
 Parrilli in 2026 | |
| Born | Dellamarie Parrilli February 28, 1949 Chicago |
| Education | DePaul University (BA) |
| Known for | Multidisciplinary Artist - Visual and creative arts including performance, painting, sculpting, photography, screenwriting, and design. |
| Movement | Abstract Expressionist |
| Website | parrilli |
Dellamarie Parrilli (born February 28, 1949) is an American multidisciplinary artist, painter, visual artist photographer and record producer who is known for her 3D abstract expressionism style that encompasses numerous genres and media. Parrilli's art has been in gallery exhibitions in Europe and the United States, particularly in Chicago and New York.
Prior to 2000 (when she turned to visual arts and painting as her full-time focus), Parrilli was a singer. More recently, she was executive producer of the album Angels Bend Closer (2016) by Canadian singer/songwriter Jane Siberry.
Parrilli began singing at age 11 after her father was killed by a drunk driver; months later, her family was left homeless after surviving a house fire.[1]
She graduated from DePaul University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music.[2] Under the stage name "Dellamarie", Parrilli headlined at the Sahara in Las Vegas in 1979,[3] and produced and performed a one-woman variety show act that a contemporary review noted to be influenced by "Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli and Jacques Brel".[4] Parrilli released a private-issue LP entitled Dellamarie LIVE which featured a six-song Judy Garland medley and a collection of standards and showtunes.[5]
In 1992, Parrilli's show "Judy: The Songs and Stories of a Legend" was about to open on Broadway, when Parrilli was diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome and Lyme disease. The two conditions left her unable to sing, and ended her singing and performance career.[1][6]
In 1998, Parrilli and a partner opened a restaurant in Chicago named Hoxie's,[6] which won the Chicago Tribune Dining Poll for "Best New Restaurant" one month after it opened,[7] however, due to an illness contracted from toxic mold exposure in her home, she was forced to close the restaurant in 2000.[8]
As a visual artist
Parrilli turned to art as a full-time pursuit after her bouts with illness. Parrilli's first public art exhibition was held in the gallery of the Fine Arts Building (Chicago) in Chicago in February 2002[6] and was followed by long run of exhibitions in New York and Chicago.[1] Parrilli's art has received numerous awards, and her work is featured in numerous private and corporate collections throughout the United States.[9]
Art critic Ed McCormack described Parrilli's self-taught style as "adventurous and constantly evolving",[10] and Schirmer Encyclopedia of Art author Ann Landi noted that Parrilli had "developed her own expressionist vocabulary," while also noting the "obvious sophistication and parallels with mainstream modernism" that distinguished her work.[11] NY Arts magazine praised Parrilli on her "audacity to tackle seemingly worn-out formulas, to give them a mighty shake, and to conjure something that is all her own."[12]
Evolution of style
Parrilli's early works (circa 2002-2004) utilized oils that were applied with "staccato pallet knife strokes", and were often characterized by the frequent use of a "distinctive violet hue."[13] McCormack called her "one of the most worthy successors to the action painters," and noted that her use of saturated color "conveys the sensation of light rather than inert pigment".[13] Curator Ruthie Tucker claimed that Parrilli's early work "express[es] the struggle with light and color," and "achieves a rarity in the genre of abstract painting: she creates art that is inherently dynamic and meditative."[14]
Parrilli opted to work directly on the canvas without utilizing preliminary sketches,[13] which created a spontaneity that Metropolitan Museum of Art lecturer Nancy di Benedetto claimed "flows and pulsates with a resonance from the world around her."[15] di Benedetto also pointed out the strong influence of Parrilli's performing career upon her early art, stating that Parrilli "literally sings and dances on the canvases."[16]
By 2007, Parrilli's style continued to use oils, but had changed to a layered pour and drip technique. Although created in a style similar to Jackson Pollock,[10] this period of Parrilli's work also dabbled in a style that alluded to Asian screen painting,[12] and included a set of paintings that were "dominated by large, bold areas of bright primaries."[10] Parrilli continued to utilize the violet hues she favored previously, as well as bright colors in "unlikely-yet-complementary color combinations" that prompted McCormack to comment that "it often appears that she has dipped her brush in liquid light rather than physical pigment."[10]
Parrilli's fascination with light would gain even more prominence as her art developed.[10] In 2008, Parrilli began a nine-month search to find materials conducive to conveying an even stronger luminescence. This search led Parrilli to find and use a polycarbonate[17] sheeting normally used for industrial purposes. This set of polycarbon based works continued to draw influence from Eastern painting techniques, "embrac[ing] both Eastern and Western picture-making strategies without coming down firmly on one side or the other."[11]
In the 2010s, Parrilli moved to Los Angeles, where she employed even more disparate and unusual media and techniques. As of 2014, her Los Angeles-based work operates in several separate and distinct styles, those being three-dimensional polycarbon on acrylic cubes; large watercolors on canvas with added acrylic textures and/or "wet on wet" painting techniques; and similarly large acrylic on canvas paintings that McCormack described as "muscular and "juicy", with enormous paint strokes "broad enough to have been painted with a broom rather than an ordinary brush."[17]
Parrilli's "Beyond 2D" series uses unconventional polycarbonate and acrylic sheeting that creates a multi-layered, transparent medium that allows for the interplay of light and shadow.[18]
Exhibitions
Parrilli's work has been exhibited in many U.S. and European galleries. Solo exhibitions of her work include: "Reflections: Journeys Within And Beyond" (2002),[6] Fine Arts Building gallery, Chicago, IL; "Between Here … And There"[9] (2006) and "Rhapsodic Abstractions: Variations On A Theme"[10] (2007), Ezair Gallery, Southampton, New York; "Into The Light"[11] (2008), Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY; "Jackson Pollock Meets Bette Midler"[19] and "Beyond Barriers" (2009), The Palmer Gallery, Chicago, IL.
Parrilli’s work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including: "Chelsea Global Competition"[14] (2002), Amsterdam Whitney Fine Art Gallery, New York, NY; "Viridian Affiliate Artists" exhibition (2003), Viridian Artists, New York, NY; Vernita Nemec, Director; "Abstract Impressions" (2005), CCT Gallery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; "Evocative Expressions" (2006), Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center For The Performing Arts, NY; "Biennale Internazionale Dell'arte Contemporanea" (2007), Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy; "Moscow International Festival of Art—Traditions and Contemporaneity" (2009), Moscow, Russia; "Visual Interpretations" (2009) GalleriaZero, Barcelona, Spain; and "Lush Xhibit"[20][21] (2009), Preston Contemporary Art Center, Misilla, New Mexico.
In 2023, Parrilli's work was featured in an exhibition titled "Beyond 2D — Encounters With Multidimensionality" at the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts.[22] Anne Rudder a critic at Hardin Center wrote “Ms. Parilli, through her innate creativity, has made a new way of seeing art. A two-dimensional picture becomes a 3D immersive viewing experience where one is nearly part of the piece, directly seeing it without use of augmented reality devices or AI. We encounter mesmerizing results… immersed in the pieces as if we were floating and gliding through them … imbued with primal physicality, this artist grants us permission to feel the work as we observe it. Ms. Parilli wages a battle for people to connect with each other by heart and emotions … to experience life fully rather than just watching the world go by as vacuous entertainment.” [23]
Honors and awards
Parrilli has received numerous awards and honors, including: Richard W. and Wanda Gardner Memorial Award (2002) for "Searching For The Divine", Northern Indiana Arts Association, 59th Annual Salon Show (juror: Paul Sierra); Manhattan Arts International Artist Showcase Award (2002) for "Manhattan Rhythm" in the "I Love Manhattan" competition (jurors: Edward Rubin and Renée Phillips); Best of Show, for "Rhapsody In Blue", Jazz: Visual Improvisations (2003), Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA (juror: Sam Gilliam, international artist); Chelsea Global Showcase Winner (2003) for "Manhattan Rhythm", Amsterdam Whitney International Fine Art, Inc.;[24] Award Of Excellence (2003) for "Desire", Manhattan Arts International, 20th Anniversary Competition, New York, NY (jurors: Nancy di Benedetto, Renee Phillips, NY); Award Of Excellence (2003) for "Journey To Self Discovery", Manhattan Arts International, "The Healing Power Of Art", New York, NY; Artist Showcase Award Winner (2004) for "Life, Love And The Art Of Celebration", Manhattan Arts International, "The Healing Power Of Art" (juror: E. Jay Weiss).[1][9][13][25]