JosephAbbati.art

What’s Happening

  • New Paintings

    New paintings from 2020.

    • “Facing Oneself,” 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Adonis & Anemones”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “We Speak For Our Ancesters”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Parallel Lives”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Twogether”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Male Gaze”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Male Gaze 2″, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30”
    • “Foothold”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Skin Deep”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Pan Ascending”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30″ X 30″
    • “Internal Dialog”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 18″ X 18″
    • “What We Tell Ourselves”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 18″ X 18″

  • “Introductions 2020” at Root Division

    I am part of Root Division’s “Introductions 2020” this year opening August 19, 2020. Six pieces will be part of this group exhibit from my “Queeries” series of artwork. View the online exhibit at https://rootdivisiontalk.wpcomstaging.com/gallery/

    • “Circle Jerk,” 2019, acrylic on canvas, 30in. round
    • “Ball Sack,” 2018, basketball hoop, net, and balls
    • “Bare Back,” 2019, acrylic on canvas, 30in. round
    • “Foot Soldier,” 2019, acrylic on canvas, 24in X 24in
    • “Tongue,” 2019, acrylic on canvas, 16in X 16in
    • “Big Boy,” 2019, acrylic on canvas, 24in X 24in
    • Exhibit Wall
    • Exhibit Gallery

    The catalog for this exhibit can be viewed here: https://issuu.com/rootdivision/docs/intro2020_catalogue/16

  • Wood Inlaid Paintings

    These assemblages are an extension of the “Queeries” series made with different inlaid wood veneers stained with acrylic paint.

    • “Cheeky,” 2020, acrylic on cherry wood inlaid veneer
    • “Embrace,” 2020, acrylic on cherry wood inlaid veneer
    • “Isolation 4,” 2020, acrylic on cherry wood inlaid veneer
    • “Tongue Swag,” 2020, acrylic on cherry wood inlaid veneer

    • “Tongue Wagging,” 2020, walnut, maple, and cherry wood inlaid veneer
    • Tongue Wagging,” 2020, acrylic stain, walnut, maple, and cherry wood inlaid veneer

  • Diasporic Futurism

    Two of my paintings will be part of an exhibit titled “Diasporic Futurism“ at Root Division. This online exhibition features 18 artists who are interrogating the definition of futurism as it relates to diasporic peoples’ movement throughout their politicized histories. Exhibiting artists will address the inherent questions of identity politics with work that explores belonging, family, the body, and sex. Each artist will explore futurism as it relates to their personal history within and beyond forced diasporas using science fiction/fantasy, visual design, comics, immersive sound, textile, and video.

    Exhibition Dates: Jul 9, 2020 to Aug 8, 2020 at https://rootdivision.org/exhibition-rd-gallery/diasporic-futurism

    • Marswalker
    • Mulitverse

  • SF Pride 2020 – 50 Years Online Exhibit

    Photo by Gooch.

    Senator Scott Wiener and Joseph Abbati, Curator, host an online photographic exhibit celebrating fifty years of Pride. “SF Pride 2020 – 50 Years” features nine San Francisco Bay Area photographers and film makers with over 900 photographs and seven films spanning five decades documenting San Francisco Pride parades and events.

    The photographers include: Arthur Tress, Gooch, Ron Williams, Tommy Wu, Darryl Pelletier, Jim James, Rink Foto, Rich Stadtmiller, and Charles Roseberry. Each photographer brings a wealth of history to create a narrative about the celebration of LGBTQ+ lives at our San Francisco Pride parades from the 1970s to 2019.

    This is the golden anniversary of SF Pride for the LGBTQ+ community. There is still more education needed to pass our history down to future generations and to not forget where LGBTQ rights started from and where we are today. This is a document for us to reflect how far we have come. We celebrate the strong will of our community which has fought hard and showed the world that “we’re here, we’re queer,” and we haven’t finished claiming our human rights.

  • Eros, C’est la Vie: A Celebration of Queer Art and Artists

    “Jock,” 2020, acrylic on canvas, 24″ X 24″ was part of an exhibit at Gallery 110 in Seattle, WA titled “Eros, C’est la Vie.”

  • Windows For Harvey

    Each year the Castro District of San Francisco pays tribute to its gay hero and icon Harvey Milk celebrating his birthday with windows of art.  This year I contribute a painting titled “Icon” which is hanging in the window of Stut at 470 Castro St. throughout May, 2020.

    “Icon”, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 24″ X 24″
    Window at Strut
    Window at Strut
    Window at Strut

  • Paintings In Isolation

    The shelter-in-place has given me time to work and experiment on new paintings.  These studies are acrylic on 12″ tondo wood panels following the series I started titled “Queeries.”

    • “Bear Back,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Eye Mask,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Peachy,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Hot Cross Buns,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Peckish,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Freckles,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Sericeous,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Face Mask,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Low Hanging Fruit,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Isolation,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Treasure Chest,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Isoation 3,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Isoation 4,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″
    • “Isoation 3,” 2020, acrylic on wood, 12″

  • Fighting Back | Lessons From AIDS For Covid-19: Art and Artists in Pandemic

    On Wednesday April 8, 2020 I was part of a panel talking about “Fighting Back | Lessons From AIDS For Covid-19: Art and Artists in Pandemic.”  The other speakers included Terry Beswick (moderator); Executive Director of the GLBT Historical Society, Lenore Chinn; a painter, photographer and cultural activist, E.G. Crichton; an interdisciplinary artist and emerita professor of art at the University of California Santa Cruz, Katie Conry; Executive Director of the Tenderloin Museum, and Leo Herrera: a Mexican self-taught visual artist, activist and writer based in San Francisco.

    A video of this Zoom conversation is available by clicking here: https://youtu.be/7Q8cHaff3g8

    GLBT Panel Discussion

  • “Queeries” Exhibit Tour

    A video tour of the “Queeries” exhibit at Strut in San Francisco.