How sad!  I was hoping she would be with us for many years to come. Her work was beautiful.

Sue

Gemma was one of the great artists who used papier mache as her main medium.  She passed away at 7:35. Tuesday 8th May 2007.

Her friend, Jackie May, who has posted the article of her work on this website says, "Wednesday 9th May would have been her 84th birthday and she was so looking forward to her party. She tried so hard to stay with us.”

The following article appeared in the Daily Breeze .

South Bay woman’s legacy includes her work and hundreds of students
By Nick Green Staff Writer
Gemma Taccogna, a diminutive Italian-American artist who taught art as a metaphor for life and ran a Palos Verdes Estates studio for 13 years, died Tuesday of emphysema in a Torrance nursing home. Today, she would have turned 84.
“It doesn’t matter what you create,” Taccogna told the Daily Breeze in 2002.
“It’s that you’re living with principle, you’re living with passion, with honor, and you have a visual statement of your bravery.”
Taccogna lived that creed, her small Malaga Cove studio doubling as an oasis for hundreds of troubled youths she counseled who dubbed her “the listener.”
“I make all of this spiritual lasagna,” she once said. “I need someone to eat it.” Taccogna was an internationally renowned artist, known for her ceramic tile work and papier-mache. Hollywood luminaries who commissioned work from her included Mary Tyler Moore, Burt Lancaster and Eddie Albert.
But it was the hundreds of students she taught about life and art at UCLA, her Redondo Beach home or finally the Torrance nursing home, that will remain her most enduring legacy.
“She’s immortal in so many ways,” said friend and student Melissa Remzi of Redondo Beach, who today is an art teacher just as Taccogna had predicted when the two first met five years ago.
“She invited me to come to her art classes and I basically never left,” Remzi added. “She just became family. It was home. … I dare say this group of people is her greatest work of art.”
Born in Bari, Italy, in 1923, she immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was just 3 months old.
Taccogna discovered art at age 4 and used it both as entertainment and an escape from a painful childhood.
She began teaching at 19, and moved to Palos Verdes Estates in 1966. Evicted from her small Malaga Cove Plaza studio in 1985 — the building owner described it as a “fire hazard” — Taccogna lived on the East Coast and in Las Vegas before returning to the South Bay in 1994 at age 70.
She is survived by a daughter, Gemma del Rio of Rancho Palos Verdes; two sons, Juan del Rio of Torrance and Zen del Rio of Palos Verdes Estates; and four grandchildren.


In a blog, Gemma wrote . . . About me:

" Taste, for instance is universal. Taste is putting the importance where it belongs.  It has to do with honesty, of course, spirituality, it has to do with everything.  It's just to the core of what life is!  Taste comes from when you like yourself.  Life is to feel related one to the other.  It has nothing to do with the color of lipstick you have on, or the labelled dress you have chosen, that reflects the taste you believe in -or perhaps you think you like it, because we're so brainwashed by advertising to think it is what we need in order to survive here.

In life you should go to directly what your mission is, without getting lost in the cosmetics of life. It's being sharply in focus with what is important.  Peel down everything, all the little side things, and get down to the core.

The core is the relatedness...is to know that you belong to the family of man.  That everyone is you, everyone is your family.  That’s good taste.  Everything is superfluous.  To know that it's your loaf of bread, and your excited to share it. That’s good taste!"

"When you are painting you ARE no longer: you've given yourself to ...whatever!  But it's not to yourself, you're just a vehicle.  I think that an important ingredient in art is that it be useful for seeing the world in a different, better light.  There's an ingredient of purposeness and responsibility.  You are creating something when you live it, when you experience it.  BUT YOU SHOULDN'T IDEALIZE YOUR NEUROSIS.  Like putting onto center stage all of your problems, be it into music, painting, or whatever.  THIS HAS NO BENEFIT IN THIS WORLD AT ALL.  I feel that each one of us is a farmer; each one of us must plant and be aware that we are RESPONSIBLE TO FEEDING our family, community and world.

It's very important that every moment, whether you are painting or writing, that you listen to your inner self.  Listen and also answer.  But freely BE there.  That's terribly important for every reason.  You've got to be genuinely open.  When this happens you can create beautifully, you can listen clearly without blocking the experience of life."

Gemma’s granddaughter Evie is planning to make a documentary of her life.
This is what she has written . . .
Gemma's mission: to encourage people to be their own people, and make it happen.

I am her grandaughter, Evie. I am making a documentary on her life- here is the synopsis:

Gemma Taccogna, an inspiration to all who encounter her, has led the life of a teenage runaway, model, dancer, teacher, inventor, mother, millionaire, guru, and internationally celebrated artist.

The Flame is the first documentary on Gemma's life, blending the poignant memories of a painful childhood, her escape at age fourteen from her home in New York City in order to save her life, and her art that saved her, the process of her invention, and the rapid style and technique that has shaped the way we view art today.  It is a story about love and loss, riches and fame, and a mastery of the craft of teaching, creating, and loving.

This documentary will weave together interviews from all who know and love her ranging from the famous cartoonist Sergio Aragones, to the inventor of Rickie Stickie productions Don Cracke, her students, family and friends from across the globe whom Gemma has inspired to follow their passions in artistic achievement.

Featuring Gemma speaking her wisdom, telling stories, and sharing her perspective on "this wonderful life we live."

This is a story of a flame who has lit uncountable torches

Hi everyone.

Finally got my password working. I was also without a computer for quite a while.

We all wanted more time with Gemma, but we are continuing our art group meetings. If anyone lives near by let me know and you can join us.

We had a beautiful celebration of her life at a friend's house up in Rolling Hills states. During the memorial a peacock kept screeching at apropos times. Gemma loved the wild peacocks and they were frequently a subject for her art.

Gemma had given instructions for all of he food, decorations and entertainment. That included blue butterflies, clouds (with Gemma quotes written on them) made by Zen and Melissa's children in their classes. Mandolin and Italian music and we were supposed to dance...

We had mozzarella cheese with tomatoes spaghetti, gnocchi, fresh fruit and pound cake, oh and never ending wine and beer. It was so amazing.

I'll keep you all posted on our projects.
PaperArtist