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Visual and Folk Arts (other than film)

Visual and Folk Arts (other than film)

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July 21, 2008

Mujeres Migrantes Italianas

Laura E. Ruberto
Exhibit Poster, "Mirades de luz" (Argentina)

An exhibit in Argentina highlights the role Italian immigrant women in Buenos Aires played in the development of Argentina’s past and present.

May 3, 2008

Gepetto (sic), Fairyland, and Oakland’s Lost Italian Americans

Laura E. Ruberto
City of Oakland
Entrance to Children's Fairyland, Oakland, California

Geppetto's been building Pinocchio for over 40 years in Oakland's Fairyland.

April 10, 2008

Italian Americana, California Style

Laura E. Ruberto
Laura E. Ruberto
Litto's Hubcap Ranch, Pope Valley (2007)

Driving for hours takes us to three California Italian American vernacular sites -- from urban LA to rural NorCal with a stop along the freeway in the Central Valley.

January 8, 2008

Joseph Cornell's Italian Job

Laura E. Ruberto
Collection Richard L. Feigen, New York
"Paolo e Francesca" (Joseph Cornell, 1943)

Italian icons subtlely make their way into Joseph Cornell's 20th century curios.

August 18, 2008

Breastfeeding Breasts!

Laura E. Ruberto
Tina Modotti
"Baby Nursing" (1926)

In honor of my two young children and World Breastfeeding Month, a few thoughts on the work of women’s breasts.

October 12, 2011

Il Fanciullo del West: Shorty Joe Quartuccio’s Country Western Sound

Laura E. Ruberto
Shorty Joe and his Red Rock Canyon Cowboys - 1947 (Shorty Joe Quartuccio, Bob Simas, & Jim Franchina)

A Few Notes on California’s Sicilian American country music history.

October 12, 2011

Il Fanciullo del West: Shorty Joe Quartuccio’s Country Western Sound

Laura E. Ruberto
Shorty Joe and his Red Rock Canyon Cowboys - 1947 (Shorty Joe Quartuccio, Bob Simas, & Jim Franchina)

A Few Notes on California’s Sicilian American country music history.

July 8, 2012

The “Naive Wooden Sculptures” of Theodore Santoro

Laura E. Ruberto
Theodore Santoro's "naive wooden sculptures"

An Italian American self-taught artist from Oakland, California, adds yet another chapter in the story of Italian Americans and material culture.

October 22, 2013

“The Mediterranean Came to Flavor My Existence”: Harry Bertoia’s Midcentury Italian American Aesthetic

Laura E. Ruberto
Cornell University Museum
Harry Bertoia, “Diamond” chair for Knoll Associates, originally produced in 1952 (this example manufactured in the 1970s).

Reflections on how Italy shaped (or didn’t) the midcentury modern design of artist Harry Bertoia.

March 13, 2014

Mobsters in Sin City

Laura E. Ruberto

The Las Vegas Mob Museum doesn’t know what to do with all those Italian American gangsters everyone loves to talk about so much.

March 2, 2011

The Case of the Missing Fasanella Painting

Laura E. Ruberto
Ralph Fasanella
"Welcome Home Boys" (1953)

How I uncovered that the City of Oakland, the Oakland Public Library, the Oakland Museum of California, and the Oakland International Airport have misplaced Ralph Fasanella’s painting, "Welcome Home Boys".

October 8, 2010

Italian America’s Eureka Moment

Laura E. Ruberto
Laura E. Ruberto
Romano Gabriel's Wooden Sculpture Garden, Eureka, CA

Finding Romano Gabriel’s Wooden Sculpture Garden along the Italy-California border.

June 18, 2009

La Ruota della Fortuna, Niki de Sainte Phalle's take on an Italian Garden

Laura E. Ruberto
Laura E. Ruberto
Il Giardino dei Tarocchi

Looking at the undercurrents of Italian migrant identity in Niki de Sainte Phalle’s Giardino dei Tarocchi.

August 19, 2009

Searching for the Ethnic Angle in John Baldessari’s Art

Laura E. Ruberto
http://artworksmagazine.com/?p=42
"Lover's Embrace" (John Baldessari)

On a visit to a retrospective of this California artist, I consider traces of the Italian immigrant background in his work.

December 24, 2009

Radical Italian American Christmas Cards

Laura E. Ruberto
Laura E. Ruberto
Mock-up for a Radical Italian American Christmas Card Set, the "Holiday Modotti"

Thinking about next year’s holiday cards, I turn to the leftist artists, Tina Modotti and Pietro di Donato.

January 14, 2010

On Guidos, Gramsci, and Irony Deficiency

Laura E. Ruberto
"Pasquino," by Nicolas Beatrizet (engraving,1550)

Why Italian Americans need to take action, a Pasquinian response to some recent debates.

December 2, 2009

Californians Sell Little Italy, One Crate at a Time

Laura E. Ruberto
(Label image, P.V.)
Angelina Tokay varietal grape label

Fruit and Vegetable Crate Labels in California and the Italian Americans They Created

December 29, 2008

The Rocks of San Francisco: Authenticity, Ethnic Neighborhoods, and Going Blog Crazy

Laura E. Ruberto
Laura E. Ruberto
Nuova Porziuncola, North Beach neighborhood, San Francisco

Ethnic construction and sacred place, the replica of the Porziuncola Chapel in San Francisco’s Italian neighborhood.

July 20, 2014

The Watts Towers in Southern Italy: Connecting California with Irpinia

Laura E. Ruberto
Laura E. Ruberto
hands of Angelo Filarmonio, holding a photo of himself, Amoroso Raimondo and Cirino Filippo at the Watts Towers, 1984

Looking for the future of Sabato Rodia’s Watts Towers in the small town of Serino, in the province of Avellino.