L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2015 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 7 Dr. Ing. Spartaco C. Albert, ItaliaNY: Iconic images of successful Italians in the U.S. Dr. Ing. Spartaco C. Albert December 1911-May 2015 The Italian influenced visual celebration entitled ItaliaNY by A l e x o W a n d a e l – a k a Alessandro Cacopardo - is being hosted in Santa Monica by the non-profit organization Building Bridges Art Exchange. With Peroni, Italy's number one beer as a sponsor, ItaliaNY was not only showcased in New York but also has expanded to Miami and Los Angeles. This wonderful collection of bold black and white portraits consists of influential first gen- eration Italians, who are now living in the U.S., capturing and c e l e b r a t i n g e a c h i n d i v i d u a l story and struggle into an iconic transcending photograph. A c c o r d i n g t o M a r i s a Caichiolo - who is the founder, d i r e c t o r , a n d c u r a t o r o f t h e international exhibitions for Building Bridges Art Exhibition -, Alexo's ItaliaNY "Is really touching because he has this connection with those people, a very interesting way to put them in a different context, but at the same time to humanize them. They look real and really con- nected to the American context: even if they are immigrants who came from Italy, Alexo makes them feel at home in the pho- tographs." Alexo, what influenced you to just pursue photography after so many years studying and working in the field of architecture? I w o r k e d 1 0 y e a r s a s a n a r c h i t e c t i n B e r l i n a n d N e w Y o r k , b u t m y p a s s i o n h a s always been photography and so I decided to jump into it. At first I was doing my projects for fine art exhibitions and then, thanks to a girlfriend who was a fash- ion stylist, I started shooting for fashion and celebrities. In 2012, I changed the topic again and went to Afghanistan Dr. Ing. Spartaco C. Albert, also known as "Bino" by family members, was born in Rome, Italy on December 18, 1911. He graduated from the Università di Roma " La S apienza" w ith a P h.D . in engineering in December 1935. On December with the Italian Army. There I developed a sense of patriotism a n d d e c i d e d t o d o a p r o j e c t about first generation Italians in the U.S., as I realized that I knew so many talented people working, living, and loving in New York. Each of the portraits came with an interview, where I asked why they left Italy and came to the United States, and what it means to be an Italian abroad. Besides just being a beautiful collection of portraits, which is my medium as a pho- t o g r a p h e r , i t ' s a l m o s t l i k e a social project telling their sto- ries and the reason why they're here. What would you say is the most common goal for each story, each struggle? I think it is the little act of courage to leave their commodi- ties, parents, and friends, and try NANCY CASAS to find something somewhere completely different. Many people have asked me why I only focus on Italians and not on Italian Americans, but these p e o p l e a r e a c t u a l l y I t a l i a n Americans living here perma- nently. These photographs can remind many Italian Americans of old portraits of their parents or grandparents, who at a cer- tain moment were first genera- tion immigrants as well. So I'm t a l k i n g t o b o t h I t a l i a n s a n d Italian Americans. There are different types of immigration, and yet all of them left Italy and c a m e h e r e f a c i n g t h e s a m e struggle. What LA story would you say captured you the most? There are so many incredible people in LA: restaurant own- ers, actors, music composers, painters, directors, journalists, surfers, fashion designers, and more. I like the fact that there are so many directions for me to f o l l o w . T h e p r o j e c t d o e s n ' t focus on any particular aspect: I'm not taking pictures of the m o s t s u c c e s s f u l , t h e m o s t known, or the most beautiful. It rather is a 360-degree angle of all jobs and careers, of all levels of celebrity up to unknown peo- ple. And I think this is to create an authentic picture of the peo- ple coming to the United States in this historical moment. I noticed most of your pic- tures are black and white, is there a particular reason for that? When I started this project it was only black and white, which gave to it a more iconic feeling. Since I really like this project, I wanted to make an icon of each of the people I was portraying. The black and white is more durable in time, while color can easily go out of date. From the filtering or the color type you c a n u n d e r s t a n d w h a t e r a t h e photographs belong to. With black and white this is more dif- ficult: it can be the 1940s, '50s, or '60s. W h a t ' s y o u r n e x t m o v e after the LA exhibit? When I started the project in NY and got Peroni as a sponsor, they proposed to expand it to Miami and Los Angeles, and I accepted. Perhaps, it can even travel to Chicago in the future. The next step is to launch the website, which is going to be in the middle of June, and after that I'm going to try and find a new sponsor to create a coffee table book to combine all these portraits and their stories in a huge collection. Artist Alexo Wandael 1, 1935 he married Isolina Ester Alberti in Rome, Italy at the bas ilica of S anti Cos ma e D amiano. H e s erved in the Italian A rmy Corps of Engineers , commanding the Battalion Cosseria in Ethiopia, Africa from 1936 to 1937. He w orked as an engineer for TERNI as a steel expert until the late 1950s when he moved to Torino to work for Lancia as a company director until relocat- ing to the United States, eventu- ally settling down in the greater Los Angeles area in 1972. Dr. Ing. Spartaco C. Albert worked at FIAT in San Pedro until 1975 in the catalytic converter lab before working at the Italian Trade Commission until 1985 where he supervised and man- aged the installation of their computer communication system with Italy. After the death of his first wife in 1974, he married in June 1976 Adelaide "Diddy" S poldi in P alos V erdes . Throughout his life he main- tained an active interest in and love of history, poetry, reading, cars , and travel. H e w as an active supporter of the Italian Cultural Ins titute of Los A ngeles , the International Committee of the Los Angeles P hilharmonic, and V illa Scalabrini Retirement Center. He is survived by his daughter, F iorenza Cos s eria A lbert- Howard, and his granddaughter, P aolina Italia A madio. H is funeral mas s w ill be held Saturday June 6th at 10 am at Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent in his honor to Villa Scalibrini, 10631 V inedale S t., S un V alley, California 91352.

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