From the Ashes II: Selected Works by Delphina Olivieri

Delphina T. Olivieri was born in Brooklyn in a house on Bergen Street on August 29, 1934. In her infancy, her single mother moved them to West 16th St. in Manhattan. She was fortunate from a young age to have discovered support outside the home; Greenwich Village figures Aunt Daisy, an artist, and her husband Uncle Ernie, effected to act as surrogate parents to Delphina into her young adulthood. Delphina thrived under Daisy & Ernie’s guidance in pursuit of the arts, academics & sport.

As a young adult, in the late 50s and 60s, she largely survived on temp-work. Through the 70s, 80's and 90's she engaged in freelance graphic designing, among other pursuits, and found more permanent positions as administrative assistant with organizations as notable as Time Life Books, as well as some Wall Street outfits. In the mid-late 60's she moved to 148 Sullivan Street, apt. 13, where she thrived until her passing on February 7, 2021. Delphina had no dependents and no surviving family.

Throughout her life Delphina pursued the psychic life of making art as a means of cultivating her soul and reconciling her interiority with her outward life. Delphina’s known output in the graphic arts roughly spanned 1948 to 2000. The majority was produced in the 60’s and 70’s. Her aesthetic and philosophical posture was self-sought and self-taught. She had no known relationship as a student or an instructor to any advanced art schools. Delphina lent little credence to New York City’s art scene, all the while living in its shadow. Nor did she consider the industry that envelops it a legitimate concern worthy of seeking its approval for her own work.

The From the Ashes II Selection of the MGC17/13 Collection on permanent display in residency at Il Corallo Trattoria at 176 Prince Street beginning in 2025 celebrates her artistic output, drawing attention to the many stylistic modes and diversity of subject matter that characterized her artistic pursuits, displaying her talent for the neighborhood to enjoy in her posterity.

Matthew Gunnison Collins is a Freelance Architectural Designer, Draftsman, Artist, Poet, Writer, Curator, and Analyst of Esoteric Arcana, with focus on the works of Shakespeare, David Bowie, and the Coen Brothers. He is a 25 year resident of 148 Sullivan Street, which is how he and Delphina became close friends after 2010. Prior to Delphina's passing, it was agreed in concert with Delphina and her friends & executor, that Matt would rescue and preserve her library of books and any other notable affects, during the resolution of Delphina's estate.

Though we, in that small cohort, were all familiar with photo-slides depicting many of these works now on display, the existence of their concentrated collection as it was preserved in two large portfolios concealed behind Delphina's drafting table, was a solemn surprise to Matt, Delphina's friends and the executor. A great gift and responsibility had been bestowed, a secret known only to Delphina, herself, until that moment of discovery.

The first exhibition of this work and its initial curation was inspired and hosted by the short-lived Sullivan Street institution, the Three of Cups Cafe, and its proprietor Michael Polesny, who was among Delphina's first post-mortem enthusiasts. Many a patron of Three of Cups over the last 2 or 3 years has reveled by and worked contemplatively in the atmosphere created Delphina's heart and her previously hidden hand.

Stephanie Markowitz, proprietress of Il Corallo Trattoria, takes great pleasure in offering these walls for the continued exhibition of these fine works enabling their greater public appreciation.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

II Corallo Trattoria, 176 Prince Street, New York, United States