Abigail DeVille's 'Deo Vindice (Orion's Cabinet)' at MOCA

Abigail DeVille's installation, 'Deo Vindice (Orion's Cabinet),' created for 2025, is currently featured in the group exhibition 'Monuments' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and The Brick in Los Angeles. Commissioned by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and The Brick, the piece incorporates elements such as China cabinets, charcoal, rusted steel scaffolding, pig blood, salt, mud, lights, and natural fibers. Born in New York in 1981, DeVille utilizes found materials to craft immersive sculptural environments that contextualize historical events cosmologically. The design of the charred colonial-style cabinets draws inspiration from images of Richmond, Virginia, which was set ablaze by the Confederate army during the Civil War's final days. The title 'Deo Vindice,' meaning 'With God as Our Defender,' reflects the Confederacy's belief in divine justification for its formation and war. The work poignantly intertwines history, mythology, memory, and loss, presenting the cabinets as symbols of a devastated political landscape and the scars of domestic memory. The exhibition commenced on March 6, 2026, at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.