The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute is pleased to announce the fall exhibition Edward E. Boccia: Postwar American Expressionist, featuring more than twenty works, including paintings and drawings made between 1958 and 1995, as well as previously unpublished diaries by artist Edward E. Boccia (1921-2012). This exhibition, exhibiting for the first time in New York, offers a new perspective on Italian-American modernism. It is curated by Rosa Berland, honorary director of The Edward E. Boccia Artist Trust, and will run from October 29, 2024 to February 21, 2025.
Throughout his extensive but often misunderstood career, Boccia developed a contemporary genre of monumental panel painting that served as devotional art while addressing the ethical, philosophical and stylistic challenges of 20th-century America. Among the works on view is a large-scale piece from his acclaimed triptych series The Flesh Eaters (1996), which combines neo-expressionist religious narrative with Cubist and Surrealist imagery, drawing inspiration from Max Beckmann to create a deeply dark tableau reflecting the human condition.
An imaginative and technically proficient artist, Boccia’s work explores what he described as “the lyricism that sings in every shaft of light and every gesture from Venice to Sorrento (Titian’s ‘eye’),” along with the moral crises faced by 20th-century America between war and consumerism. His bold paintings communicate themes of nostalgia, longing, loss, grief and spirituality while maintaining a strong connection to the legacy of historic Italian art.
Exhibition curator Rosa Berland stated that: “While Boccia is largely absent from the public eye, the young artist’s postwar recruitment to Washington University in St. Louis by Ken Hudson reveals that in the mid-twentieth century Boccia was considered a key innovator. By reintroducing the visitor to Boccia’s experimental work, this exhibition seeks to create new dialogue around the diasporic practice of this important and accomplished Italian American artist”.
