SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART
Address: 110 South Market Street
San Jose, CA 95133-2383
408-294-2787
Open Tuesday - Sunday.
A striking sculpture
of brilliant colors stands on the plaza in front of the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA).
Like so many of his public art installations, this work by
Italo Scanga called "Figure Holding the Sun" immediately
grabs you into the space in which the piece is placed.
Other such examples of Scanga sculptures include the
whimsical figures "Continents" at the San Diego
International Airport. Imagery to make you smile, these
public installations are happy, colorful and fun. Scanga was
a master of color and form. Utilizing extremely bright
hues in defined blocks of color against subtle tones, Scanga
was able to turn color & form into statements you cannot
ignore.
The Calabria-born
artist lived from 1932 to 2001. He moved to the US in 1947
and set the world on fire with his original art. He
eventually lived in La Jolla and taught at the University of
California San Diego. He acquired two gallery studios in San
Diego and also worked on creating a museum of his work in
his hometown of Lago, Calabria, when he died of heart
failure on July 27 at his San Diego Turquoise Street studio
at age 69. The world was graced by a master, as is San Jose,
where Scanga's work is on public display 24/7.
Figure Holding the Sun
is near circle of palm trees and picnic tables with colorful
shade umbrellas.
The museum operates partly out of a striking 1892
post-office building with a clock tower, and partly out of
the adjacent modern building that opened in 1991. Bright red
cloth paneling across the front of the new building
announces the museum's name.
SJMA is not large for a big-city museum, but the quality of
the work on display is high. The museum has a permanent
collection of 1,200 20th-century works, with an emphasis on
post-1980 Bay Area artists. It also imports exhibits from
New York's Whitney Museum of American Art.
Exhibits are interesting and include contemporary painting,
photography, and more. There are jazz or classical music
concerts the first Wednesday of each month, and free
children's programs on the last Sunday of each month. Poetry
and book readings, Sunday afternoon jazz concerts in the
winter, and daily tours round out the calendar of events.
Visitors can also enjoy the cafe and museum store.
San Jose Museum of Art. 110 S Market St San Jose, CA
95113-2383
Figure Holding the Sun Italo Scanga 1988 Fairmont Plaza @
SJMA: exterior Painted steel sculpture
