JOSEPH ABBATI
BIO
Joseph Abbati is an artist from San Francisco. His artwork is figurative and looks at the human condition through a queer lens.
Joseph’s work has been showcased at the “2025 Salon at the Triton Museum,” and “The de Young Open” in 2023. In 2024, he had a solo exhibit at the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton, CA, and group exhibits at Benicia Arts Center in Benicia, CA, ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, CA, and 2358 MRKT Gallery in San Francisco, CA. His exhibitions have also been held at Schlomer Haus Gallery, SFWA Gallery, Radian Gallery, Soft Times Gallery, Moth Belly Gallery, and 2358 MRKT Gallery.
Since 2017, Joseph has curated exhibitions for the office of Senator Scott Wiener, producing several shows annually that feature San Francisco Bay Area artists. These exhibitions address themes such as housing, nightlife, LGBTQ Pride, global climate, transit, and representation of Asian, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx artists.
Joseph Abbati
Visual Artist | Curator
San Francisco, CA
josephabbati.com | [Instagram: @jabbati]
ART EXHIBITIONS
2026
- The Ultramarine Layer, Meditations in Blue, Wessling Contemporary, San Francisco
- ShowStopper, group exhibit at San Francisco Midway Gallery, KnK Contemporary
- IMLBB Art Showcase 2026, group exhibit at Mr. Leather Convention, Chicago IL
- Drawn From Life, group exhibit at Sausalito Center for the Arts
- Spectacular, group exhibit at The Odyssey Art, San Francisco, CA
- Still We Gather, group exhibit at Rosebud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2025
- Cloud 9.0, group exhibit at Covet Art Gallery, Oceanside, CA
- Intersectionality, group exhibit at KnK Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
- ArtAuction25: Housing Heals, for Coalition for Homelessness at SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
- 2025 SF Open Studios Exhibition, group exhibit at SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
- ArtSpan Open Studios, at KnK Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
- 2025 Art for AIDS Auction, at The Bridgeyard, Oakland, CA
- Triton Salon 2025, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
- Blue Note, KnK Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
- Black Hearts, KnK Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
- Showcase, San Francisco City Hall
- Here and Now: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Grows, Sausalito Center for the Arts
2024
- BOLD FACE, Radian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- From Disco Days to the Tech Craze: 50 Years of ArtSpan, SFPL Jewett Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Show Stopper, 2358 MRKT Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Pride not Prejudice, Sausalito Center for the Arts
- VISIBLE (solo), Firehouse Arts Center, Pleasanton, CA
- Hospitality House Auction, Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, San Francisco, CA
- I. We. They. Celebrations of Gender, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA
- Breaking Boundaries, ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA
- Kindred, 2358 MRKT Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Golden Benefit Auction, ArtSpan at Heron Arts, San Francisco, CA
- Juanita More! Portrait Reveal, Rosebud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- The Big Softie, Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Bay Area Figurative Painting Now, Sausalito Center for the Arts
2023
- Overwinter, Radian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Amplify, Juror’s Choice, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Annual Artists Choice, Juror’s Choice, SFWA Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- The de Young Open, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
- Magnet 20th Anniversary, Strut, San Francisco, CA
- Soft Defiance, Harvey Milk Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
- Pride Not Prejudice, Sausalito Center for the Arts
- VISIBLE, 2358 MRKT Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Pride Is Not A Crime, Helvella Art, Oakland, CA
- Bay Area Figurative Movement Today, SFWA Gallery
- Humans, Fame-O-Rama, San Francisco, CA
- Shape Shifters (solo), Schlomer Haus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- Group Exhibit, 2358 MRKT Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2022 and Earlier
(Condensed for space – available on request or full CV download)
Exhibitions at: Radian Gallery, Soft Times Gallery, Moth Belly Gallery, SFWA Gallery, Live Worms Gallery, The Studio Door (San Diego), SF City Hall, Sanchez Art Center, Arc Gallery, Root Division, Gallery 110 (Seattle), Bromfield Gallery (Boston), and more.
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
Independent and Gallery-Based
- Pride 2025, San Francisco City Hall (2025)
- Showcase, San Francisco City Hall (2025)
- VISIBLE, 2358 MRKT Gallery (2023)
- Queer View, San Francisco City Hall (2022)
- Abstrax, Radian Gallery (2019)
Office of Senator Scott Wiener (California State Building, San Francisco)
Curated or co-curated 14 exhibitions (2017–2025), including:
- What We Hold, Pride (2026)
- New Spring (2026)
- TRANSIT: How We Move (2025)
- Indigenous (2023)
- TRANS AWARE (2022)
- SF Pride – 50 Years (2020)
- QueerEyes, East on West, ADVANCED, eARTh, Queerky, Nite Life, Housing, and Larger Than Life (2017-2019)
AWARDS & PUBLICATIONS
- Viva Downtown & The Art Hunger’s Guest Artist program, Redding, CA (2024)
- Amplify: Juror’s Choice Award, ArtSpan Open Studios (2023, 2020)
- Juror’s Choice, SFWA Artists Choice Exhibit (2023, 2022)
- Sheridan Prize for Art, 1st Place LGBTQ+ Artists (2022)
- Office Politics, review in Artforum (Dec. 2022)
- Featured: DandyQueerArt.com (2021), The Art of Being Queer, Queer Quarterly
- Featured Artist: UN//TITLED: Anthology of Queer Contemporary Art (Balaclava.Q, 2021)
- California Senate Resolution, commendation by Senator Scott Wiener (2019)
- San Francisco Examiner, The Fight magazine, Balaclava.Q – Abstract Activism
