Philip Slein Gallery devotes entire space to Edward E. Boccia retrospective
The Central West End venue expands into all rooms for the first time in 23 years to display over 30 works by the late St. Louis painter.
By Juan Gonzalez ·
Philip Slein Gallery at 4735 McPherson Avenue has opened its doors to a career survey of Edward E. Boccia that occupies every available wall in the building. The exhibition, titled Edward E. Boccia: An American Modernist, opened with a reception on October 23 and remains on view through December 19. Gallery owner Philip Slein noted that this is the first time in the venue's 23-year history that the entire space has been dedicated to a single artist.
The show presents more than 30 paintings spanning Boccia's professional life. The front room features large-scale works, including the nine-panel autobiographical piece Eugene's Journey and the 2004 triptych David's Death. A hallway contains mythic scenes depicting ocean journeys and luminous figures. The final room displays a salon wall that traces the artist's development from a 1950s portrait to a painting completed in 2012, shortly before his death.
Boccia was born in New Jersey in 1921 to Italian parents. He served in the World War II Ghost Army and studied at the Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, and Columbia University. In 1951, Washington University in St. Louis hired him as a faculty member. He taught there for more than 30 years, retiring in 1986 as professor emeritus.
Art historian Rosa Berland, who is based in New York, curated the exhibition. She described Boccia as a polymath who studied philosophy, theology, and psychoanalysis. Berland spent 14 years researching his life and work. She stated that the show is a story of a New York native who found success in St. Louis.
A companion book titled Edward E. Boccia: Painter of Nightmares and Dreams will be published by Hirmer during the exhibition run. This is the first major monograph on the artist. It includes dozens of images, several fold-out plates, and scholarly essays. The pamphlet prepared for the show includes a quote from Boccia: "Don't worry about what my art means. Just experience it."
Slein said the only venue that could host a larger display of Boccia's work would be an institution. He added that if Boccia was not sleeping or eating, he was drawing. Berland credited Morton D. May as Boccia's greatest patron. May's art collection was gifted in part to the Saint Louis Art Museum.
Berland said the work demands engagement on multiple levels. She compared viewing the paintings to reading a poem or a philosophical text. She noted that people do not slow down anymore. The exhibition highlights Boccia's influence from artists including Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, and Max Beckmann.
Source: St. Louis Magazine
