Looking for a Miracle? Italo Scanga

Known as an alchemist of everyday materials, Italo Scanga (1932-2001) had the uncanny ability to tranform mundane objects such as kitchen gadgets, potatoes and scraps of wood into miraculous celebrations of life. Oceanside Museum of Art presents a seminal exhibition of this world renown artist who taught at UCSD and worked in San Diego from 1978 until his death in 2001.  Looking for a Miracle? features sculptural works that span his long career, focusing on some of his most famous series, including The Potato Famine, Aminams in Danger, Troubled World and the Meta series. A preview reception introduces the exhibition on Saturday, April 2, 2011 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Admission at the door is $10 and free for OMA members.

Scanga was a jack-of-all materials, eager to explore diverse mediums including sculpture, painting, printmaking, ceramics and glass. He continually responded to the stimulus of life by juxtaposing surprising materials with his treasure trove of objects he found at swap meets, thrift stores and in nature.  With a nod to the Dadist work of Marcel Duchamp and the Pop assemblage of Robert Rauchenberg, Scanga draws from a rich source of influences such as Expressionism, Folk Art, Cubism, and Russian Constructivism. His work is layered with art historical, cultural and religious sources mixed with autobiographical fiction.