Referencing his constructed assemblages, Italo Scanga layers cultural and artistic influences with acrylic, pastel, and collage elements in ‘Untitled 1’. Here, Scanga creates a personal allegory of his Italian heritage by incorporating imagery from the Italian landscape into characteristically Cubist composition.

Known for his free-standing, painted assemblages that incorporated found materials and discarded objects, Italo Scanga (1932-2001) brought elements of Cubism and folk art together in his reworked narratives of cultural and religious myths. Born in Italy, Scanga immigrated to the United States with his family after World War II. After studying at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Detroit, MI, he earned his BA in 1960 and MA in 1961 from Michigan State University, where he took interest in both sculpture and photography. Since winning First Prize in Sculpture at the National Art Exhibition, New Bedford, MA, in 1965, Scanga received numerous awards and honors, including two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (1973, 1980) and the 1995 Chancellor’s Award from UCSD, La Jolla, CA. His work has been featured in major museum and gallery exhibitions throughout the world, including solo shows at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (1972); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (1983); Yamaki Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan (1997); and Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA (2006).

Selected Public Collections:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY)
Albertina Museum (Vienna, Austria)
The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA)
Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA)
Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN)