Monuments man: race car driver turned artist Salvatore Scarpitta's radical realist works
While fighting for the US navy during the Second World War, Italian-American artist Salvatore Scarpitta was a 'monuments man' – part of a team that traced and catalogued artworks stolen by the Nazis. This name now takes on new meaning, as an eight-year slice of the artist's monumental oeuvre goes on display at Luxembourg & Dayan in New York.
From wartime detective to race car driver, Scarpitta was a man of many talents. This is reflected in his varied artistic practice, which ranges from visceral, 3D canvases to sculpted reconstructions of automobiles. Despite this broad opus, Scarpitta – who was represented by Leo Castelli – remains lesser-known than other post-war artists linked to the legendary dealer (think Rauschenberg, Twombly, Ruscha, Warhol). Luxembourg & Dayan's timely exhibition makes moves to alter this perception, giving a niche – yet important – portion of Scarpitta's work the space and clarity it deserves.
The display spans between two pivotal moments that defined Scarpitta's career: his 'bandage' paintings from the late 1950s, and his shift away from the canvas towards artistically re-building race cars in 1964. These cosmic shifts, like spokes in a wheel, gave the artist's long career momentum, but left him tricky to categorise or define, exacerbated by his mix of Italian and American influences.
'In 1958, Scarpitta returned to New York from Rome, where he had been living for almost two decades,' Amalia Dayan explains. 'He acted as a sort of one-man bridge between these two worlds, and this body of work captures his responses to these multiple political, cultural and artistic influences swirling around him from both directions.' From his 1956 Sul limite e oltre (Composizione), remnants of Scarpitta's Italian-inspired, expressionistic touch can still be felt. Later, we trace his turn towards a more graphic language, incorporating components of Hollywood race car culture, as in the seatbelts of Tishamingo (For Franz Kline), from 1964. The artist himself once said, 'I felt that I had something to say in that period of, shall we say, the American background as the stimulus of those works, and the racing cars were my way of showing that I, too, knew something of America.'
With such dualities crashing together in the work, picking this exploratory period to focus on was a genius move from dynamic power-duo Dayan and Daniella Luxembourg. But it wasn't without its difficulties. 'Scarpitta's works are scattered all over – many are in collections in Europe – so the process of hunting them down was quite intense,' Dayan reveals. 'But having the tight, eight-year parameter also opens up a different kind of creativity, since it allows us to take a scholarly approach and to really dive into historical detail and context.' The deft academic qualities of the show do not outweigh its aesthetic ones, helping to make Scarpitta's posthumous legacy ever more important.
INFORMATION
’Salvatore Scarpitta, 1956–1964’ is on view until 23 December. For more information, visit the Luxembourg & Dayan website
ADDRESS
Luxembourg & Dayan
64 E 77th Street
New York, NY 10075
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.
-
Kapwani Kiwanga considers value and commerce for the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024
Kapwani Kiwanga draws on her experiences in materiality for the Canada Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Marcio Kogan’s Studio MK27 celebrated in this new monograph from Rizzoli
‘The Architecture of Studio MK27. Lights, camera, action’ is a richly illustrated journey through the evolution of this famed Brazilian architecture studio
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Minotti presents Giampiero Tagliaferri’s Supermoon sofa at Salone Del Mobile 2024
Minotti brings its new Supermoon collection to Salone del Mobile 2024, with a unique blend of Milanese and Californian aesthetics
By Jasper Spires Published
-
The Met’s ‘The Real Thing: Unpacking Product Photography’ dissects the avant-garde in early advertising
A new exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York explores the role of product photography and advertising in shaping the visual language of modernism
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
Tony Notarberardino’s Chelsea Hotel Portraits preserve a slice of bygone New York life
‘Tony Notarberardino: Chelsea Hotel Portraits, 1994-2010’, on show at New York’s ACA Galleries, is the photographer’s ode to the storied hotel he calls home and its eclectic clientele
By Hannah Silver Published
-
‘LA Gun Club’: artist Jane Hilton on who’s shooting who
‘LA Gun Club’, an exhibition by Jane Hilton at New York’s Palo Gallery, explores American gun culture through a study of targets and shooters
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates Black cinema
‘Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971’ at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) brings lost or forgotten films, filmmakers and performers to a contemporary audience
By Anne Soward Published
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in America
BLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
By Timothy Anscombe-Bell Published
-
Todd Gray’s sculptural photography collages defy dimension, linearity and narrative
In Todd Gray’s New York exhibition, he revisits his 40-year archive, fragmented into elaborated frames that open doors for new readings
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Frieze LA 2024 guide: the art, gossip and buzz
Our Frieze LA 2024 guide includes everything you need to know and see in and around the fair
By Renée Reizman Published
-
New York artist Christopher Astley showcases an alternative natural world
At Martos Gallery in New York, Christopher Astley’s paintings evoke an alternative natural world and the chaos of warfare (until 16 March 2024)
By Tianna Williams Published