David J. Marchi: Break on Through

Painting with intensity and a sense of purpose, David J. Marchi produces energetic and bold abstract paintings that document his deeply personal journey of artistic transformation.

This exhibition traces Marchi’s recent artistic career, exploring his ideas and processes and highlighting his various bodies of work. Layering colors, patterns, and methods of paint application, Marchi utilizes gesture, physicality, and unusual materials and methods to produce vibrant, large-scale canvases.    

Remarkably, Marchi had never painted before a life-altering boating accident in 2015. During his recovery, he discovered a previously untapped artistic drive and was compelled to paint. This phenomenon, later diagnosed as Acquired Savant Syndrome, is an unusual condition, and Marchi is one of only 50 documented cases of this syndrome worldwide. Leaving his previous profession to embrace the world of art, David followed his intuitive drive to create, often working from vivid dreams that lay out colors and structures for him to follow. As his work has matured, Marchi has studied with artists Ronnie Landfield, Larry Poons, Pat Lipski and Peter Bonner at the Art Students League of New York.

Marchi also draws on his experiences to help instruct others in art therapy, working with students with disabilities to help foster creativity and inclusion through artmaking. His experience suggests the ways that creativity lives within everyone, regardless of experience or background, serving as a reminder that art can be a profound tool for recovery, connection, and transformation