John Paul Morabito "Immortal" Curated by Patricia Sweetow

John Paul Morabito's exhibition, curated by Patricia Sweetow at Nancy Toomey Fine Art, is a collection of dazzling woven, beaded tapestries. Immortal is an homage to Sylvester, the iconic Queen of Disco whose haunting falsetto, electronic rhythms, lyrics, and gender-fluid persona transformed devotion into dance anthems of queer liberation. This was at a time when sexual energy pulsed in clubs throughout urban centers where seduction, drag, sparkle, protest, coming out, and demands for equal rights and decriminalization began ripping through the hetero-normative walls of the United States. Immortal takes its name from the posthumous collection released after Sylvester died of AIDS related complications in 1988, which highlighted his activism and the legacy of his work. It is a reminder that the queer dance floor has always been a site of joy, protest, and survival. Transdisciplinary weaver John Paul Morabito channels splendor, sensuality, erotics, blasphemy, sacrament, metaphor, mourning, and protest into flamboyant and glittering abstractions that exalt in queer grace. Morabito's luminous tapestries tower as a metaphoric rallying cry. "I am retracing of the queer resistance born in urban discos of a prior generation," says the artist. "As social and political forces once again seek to eradicate queer people, I, like those who came before me, reach for the promise of queer futurity."