ARTIST STATEMENT
My work weaves together personal and political narratives, reflecting my experience as a Queer individual coming of age in the 1980s amidst pervasive homophobia and the silencing impact of AIDS. My intricate compositions draw heavily upon research into the fragmented and contested history of my Queer ancestors, who lived underground in fear of persecution in the era before the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Interweaving Queer-coded obsessions from my past—from limp-wristed Looney Tunes to flamboyant supervillains—with discoveries from research, my works connect wildly disparate imagery, evoking humor, sexual tension, dysphoria, nostalgia, and rebellion
.
For my paintings, I primarily use indelible ink on paper. The process of shaping watery, densely pigmented inks as they absorb into the paper feels akin to the act of creating memories—permanent impressions that fade and change with time. A pivotal exhibition shaping my practice was the Prinzhorn Collection (Drawing Center, 2000) showcasing art by inmates of psychiatric institutions from 1890 to 1940. I felt a psychic bond with the work, obsessively woven with text, patterns and haunting imagery. For me, art making has always functioned as an obsessive and necessary form of self-expression and this show gave me license to embrace my quirks. This is evident in my ongoing series of smaller works and fetishistically detailed larger compositions.
..
For my paintings, I primarily use indelible ink on paper. The process of shaping watery, densely pigmented inks as they absorb into the paper feels akin to the act of creating memories—permanent impressions that fade and change with time. A pivotal exhibition shaping my practice was the Prinzhorn Collection (Drawing Center, 2000) showcasing art by inmates of psychiatric institutions from 1890 to 1940. I felt a psychic bond with the work, obsessively woven with text, patterns and haunting imagery. For me, art making has always functioned as an obsessive and necessary form of self-expression and this show gave me license to embrace my quirks. This is evident in my ongoing series of smaller works and fetishistically detailed larger compositions.
BIO
BOBBY ABATE (Brooklyn, NY) is a Queer artist, filmmaker and editor. Bobby’s work has been featured at prestigious venues such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the New York Film Festival, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Cinematheque and most recently at International Objects in NYC. In 2023, Bobby was an artist-in-residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Art Space on Governor’s Island and was awarded the DVAA artist fellowship. Bobby holds an MFA degree from Bard College. As an editor, Bobby worked on seasons 3 and 4 of the Queer docuseries We're Here on HBO, which recently won Peabody and Television Academy awards, in addition to creating animations for the renowned drag performer Sasha Velour. In 2021, Bobby self-published The Outsider Tarot featuring 80 original artworks that reimagine the traditional Tarot in a modern, queer context. This deck and 200-page guidebook were presented at the Whitney Museum, Participant INC., and Miami MoCA, sold at Artbook in PS1 MoMA Queens, and are part of the permanent collection at the Fine Arts Library of Harvard University.