I did a fair bit of my Christmas shopping at last year's Specimen pop-up shop, curated by La Jolla gallery owner Mark Quint and housed at the Lux Art Institute. I found a vintage medicine tube filled with shark teeth, a fish in a jar, and two small mounted air plants. Best stocking stuffers ever!
Imagine my joy when I heard Specimen was popping up again, this time in a much larger space: the roughly 1,000 square foot studio of multimedia artist Italo Scanga, who passed away in 2001.
Mark Quint is still the curator behind Specimen, which includes treasures he's found on his travels and enough curiosities to fill a very large cabinet. I've been told they have on hand an alligator head, lots of globes, ceramic Mexican wrestler heads, anatomical models, vintage mugshots and more.
Some of the items for sale are also from Scanga's estate. Scanga was an internationally recognized artist and taught at UCSD for over twenty years. He amassed large amounts of found objects that he incorporated into his artwork and some of those items will be on sale.
To sum up, if you're looking for quirky, unusual artifacts for gifts or home decor, Specimen is the sale for you.
Specimen will be open Saturday (9am-5pm) and Sunday (11am-5m) at the Scanga Studio in Bay Park, located at 4130 Napier Street, right off Morena Boulevard.
