New Article about Italian-Californian Site-Specific Art Spaces in Palermo-based, Osservatorio Outsider Art

Laura E. Ruberto Discussion

An essay, in Italian, about Italian-Californian vernacular art and architecture sites, "Al di la di Sabato Rodia: appunti su opere ambientali site-specific Italo-Californiane," by Laura E. Ruberto, Osservatorio Outsider Art, Palermo, Fall 2016, pp.56-79.

 

Here is the English language abstract of the article:

 

This paper, “Beyond Sabato Rodia: Some Notes on Italian Californian Site-Specific Spaces,” offers an introduction to the unplanned pattern of Italian American expressive vernacular culture in California. I explore a West Coast Italian aesthetic – rooted in the land, climate, material objects, and migration patterns – visible in six vernacular art and architecture sites and the men who made them. This essay presents Sabato Rodia’s Watts Towers, Baldassare Forestiere’s Underground Gardens, Romano Gabriel’s Wooden Sculpture Garden, John Giudici’s Capidro, Litto Damonte’s Hubcap Ranch, and Theodore Santoro’s Wood Carvings in order to highlight each men’s structures in relation to their Italian ethnicity and place-making.

 

You can download the journal at www.outsiderartsicilia.it at the cost of 5 euros or order a printed copy for 27 euros.