The American painter and sculptor Salvatore Scarpitta has always seemed like the lost man in the lineup of durably famous artists - Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Frank Stell- championed by the legendary dealer Leo Castelli. Scarpitta, who was raised in Los Angeles and died in 2007, never quite took off as a postwar pioneer. But then again, he never pursued anything resembling a standard art career: He was an unconventional painter who became an untrained car manufacturer. Opening Oct. 14 at the Luxembourg & Dayan gallery, "Salvatore Scarpitta 1956-1964"will trace his evolution, from his traumatized-looking paintings made with bandages and bulges to a turn in his sculpture toward the mid-1960s in which his automotive fascinations began to spawn racecars, a few of which actually worked (and were actually raced). (Through Dec. 23; 212-452-4646, luxembourgdayan.com.)
ART BY SALVATORE SCARPITTA, FROM VIVID PAINTINGS TO FAST CARS
Randy Kennedy, The New York Times, 2016年10月5日