Please join John Paul Morabito for an in-depth discussion of For Félix, the tapestries on view in the current exhibition, which will then segue into the discussion and viewing of the tapestries Magnificat. We’ll unroll several gorgeous Magnificat tapestries throughout their talk, a bit of performance – just for you!
On view in the exhibition is For Félix (love letter), an homage to Félix González-Torres, who succumbed to AIDS in the ’90s. Morabito’s series is a corollary to the exquisite homoerotic beaded curtains of González-Torres, a powerful metaphoric veil between sex, life and death. Morabito’s beaded tapestries offer a ravishing tribute to González-Torres, but also deliver a celebratory fist to subsequent Queer generations. Like González-Torres’, Morabito’s art is a protest against religious and institutional policies as the guiding moral orthodoxy. Their subtle but powerful interventions in For Félix (love letter) reinterpret sanctity with a seductive queer protest. Beading the long strands of thread is analogous to the beaded Rosary, only instead of contrition, Morabito’s act is erotic, lacing their tapestry with desire, intimacy, exaltation, and remembrance.