Philip Slein Gallery fills entire floor with Edward Boccia retrospective

Philip Slein Gallery is dedicating its entire space to a single artist for the first time in its 23-year history. The exhibition, titled Edward E. Boccia: An American Modernist, opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 23. It will remain on view through Dec. 19.

Located at 4735 McPherson in the Central West End, the gallery typically limits individual shows to its front room. For this survey, the walls are filled with works spanning Boccia's career. Gallery owner Philip Slein described the show as the largest he has mounted. "The only thing that could be bigger than this would be at an institution," Slein said.

Boccia was born in New Jersey in 1921 to Italian parents. He served in the World War II Ghost Army before studying at the Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, and Columbia University. He taught at the Columbus Art School in Ohio, where he introduced Bauhaus principles to his students.

He joined the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis in 1951. He remained there for more than 30 years, retiring in 1986 with the title of professor emeritus. Art historian Rosa Berland, who is based in New York, described his teaching style as rigorous but open. She noted that he encouraged students to find "their own kind of fire."

Boccia produced thousands of paintings, ranging from small seaside scenes to monumental multi-panel works. He continued working until his death in 2012 at age 91. "If he wasn't sleeping or eating, he was drawing," Slein said.

The exhibition features more than 30 paintings. The front room displays large-scale pieces, including the nine-panel polyptych "Eugene's Journey" and the 2004 triptych "David's Death." The latter is one of several works meditating on the death of his son. A hallway section displays mythic ocean scenes. The final room features a salon wall tracing his evolution from a 1950s portrait to a work painted in 2012.

The show will be accompanied by a book titled Edward E. Boccia: Painter of Nightmares and Dreams. Hirmer will publish the volume during the exhibition's run. Berland wrote the text after 14 years of research. It is the first major monograph on the artist and includes fold-out plates, scholarly essays, and historical overviews.

Berland described Boccia as a polymath who studied philosophy, theology, psychoanalysis, and history. She noted that he did not want his work to be didactic. A pamphlet prepared for the show reads, "Don't worry about what my art means. Just experience it." Berland also credited Morton D. May as Boccia's greatest patron. May's art collection was gifted in part to the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Berland stated that Boccia's work demands engagement on multiple levels. "We don't slow down anymore," she said, comparing the viewing experience to reading a poem or a philosophical text.