May DeViney

Butcher Madonna

Acrylic on canvas over wood in an antique frame, 19.25 x 11.25 in. (framed) / $1,800

Painting of a Madonna wearing traditional garb but also a leather butcher’s apron with a blood stain, proudly displaying a table of her work, cuts of meat.

The Virgin and Skippy with the Young St. John the Baptist

Acrylic on canvas over wood and an antique metal frame with electric lights, 14 x 12 in. (framed) / $800

Painting of a Madonna figure as a ventriloquist, with the usual infant figure replaced by a ventriloquist’s dummy and being admired by the Infant St. John the Baptist.

Our Lady of Perpetual Aggravation

Acrylic on canvas over wood, metal, plastic and cloth, 21 × 17.5 x 2 in. / $1,800

Painting of Madonna and child figures, showing the baby misbehaving by making a mess with a ketchup bottle and the Madonna shrieking in anger. Both have cracked haloes, showing their imperfection

Madonna of Money

Collage with foil leaf in antique frame, 13.5 x 10.25 in. / 17.5 x 13 in. (framed) / $475

A collage on a found Victorian photo of a mother and baby, making the figures decorated by currency images and images from biblical stories of torment.

As It Once Was, Does it Have to Be Again?

Acrylic and collage on canvas, 16 x 20 in. / $1,600

Painting of a group of five women walking away from the viewer on a city street, each having a target on her back.

Merry Maids

Acrylic on canvas over board, with lighted antique frame, 17 x 21 in. / NFS

Painting of a group of seven haloed Madonna figures wearing classical dress and carrying housecleaning tools, walking happily across a cloud to work as a team

Lunch Lady Madonna

Acrylic on canvas over wood, foil leaf, in a 50’s style antique frame, 15 x 13 x 5 in. (framed) / $1,600

A 50’s style painting of a grinning Madonna, wearing an apron and holding up a Coke bottle.

Noir Madonna

Acrylic on canvas over wood, Antique radio cabinet, 23 x 18 in. / $1900.

Painting of a Madonna figure in a noir-styled mid-century movie poster. She is holding a smoking pistol and is surrounded by noir gangster figures

Artist Statement

May DeViney is an unrepentant Midwesterner, and remains so despite having lived in New York City, Brooklyn, southern Florida and in Massachusetts for nearly 20 years. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she absorbed the influences of the Chicago Imagists and iconoclastic art movements such as the Hairy Who. She left school early to study independently at workshops, seminars and classes under several prominent artists, most recently at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

She has traveled throughout the United States and internationally. The experiences she has gained and her trenchant observations on the human condition are reflected in her work.

She began as a painter in oils and acrylics and her paintings have won awards in regional shows and in national competitions. But in recent years she has turned to mixed media constructions, which frequently incorporate paintings and found elements built into three-dimensional multi-media wall pieces and sculpture. These constructions exhibit a flavor of H.C. Westermann and Grant Wood combined with the styles of Renaissance historical and religious art. Her work has been included in juried shows at the regional and national levels and has been included in national publications.

She has remained a lifelong feminist, active in women’s rights organizations, and for several years has contributed art and design work to the Walk for Women’s Lives, a fundraising effort for domestic abuse shelters in the Concord, Massachusetts area. Feminist social commentary as well as church-state separation issues are some of the most recent concerns expressed in her work.

www.maydeviney.com | Instagram: @devineymay

Biography

May DeViney was born in rural Ohio and raised in suburban Chicago. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was influenced by artists associated with the Chicago Imagists and the Hairy Who movement, and later continued her studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, magna cum laude, from Boston University, and her background in technology continues to inform her artistic practice.

DeViney began her career as a painter before moving increasingly toward mixed-media constructions, sculpture, and installation. Her work incorporates painting alongside found objects, antiques, and discarded materials, combining historical and religious imagery with influences ranging from Grant Wood and Joseph Cornell to Renaissance art. Her work often explores contemporary social and political concerns, particularly feminism, gender, work, inequality, and the complexities of modern life.

An award-winning artist, DeViney has exhibited extensively in solo and juried exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Harper’s, and Gallery & Studio, and is held in museum, corporate, and private collections in the United States and abroad. She is represented by Viridian Artists in New York and maintains a studio at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Artist's CV