Bobby Abate | «Outsider Tarot»
10 Janeiro 2025 18h30
Bobby Abate | Outsider Tarot
Artist Talk | January 10th, 18:30
Free Entry
Free Entry
ARTIST TALK is a series of conversations that offer the community a chance to meet the artists-in-residence at Zaratan and to gain insight into the creative process.
During this encounter, Bobby Abate will present his Outsider Tarot deck, released in 2021, alongside a peek at their latest project. Historically, cartomancy decks have served as tools for recording local and familial histories, often through games. Most early decks were created for the wealthy and powerful. For the artist, creating their own cartomancy decks represents an act of rebellion, empowerment, and inclusion — a way to weave the histories and lore of the marginalized into this tradition.
The Outsider Tarot is inspired by those who exist beyond the margins: artists, visionaries, outlaws, witches, eccentrics, musicians, Queers, activists, nerds, collectives, and anyone who challenges the status quo. It is not a recreation of the world’s most popular Tarot, the Rider-Waite deck. Bobby Abate will discuss the decade-long process of researching and creating a Tarot deck from the ground up, using the esoteric framework of the Hermetic Qabalah. This ancient system, which shaped the designs of Arthur Waite, Aleister Crowley, Manly P. Hall, and others, became the foundation for my modern and inclusive reimagining of the Tarot. The artist will also share insights into their newest project: a fortune-telling deck that fuses the Lenormand tradition with Polari, the secret language used by gay men in mid-20th-century Europe. This deck transforms a coded language of survival into a contemporary tool for divination and empowerment.
The event will conclude with a group Tarot reading using the Outsider Tarot ( https://www.outsidertarot.com/ ).
The Outsider Tarot is inspired by those who exist beyond the margins: artists, visionaries, outlaws, witches, eccentrics, musicians, Queers, activists, nerds, collectives, and anyone who challenges the status quo. It is not a recreation of the world’s most popular Tarot, the Rider-Waite deck. Bobby Abate will discuss the decade-long process of researching and creating a Tarot deck from the ground up, using the esoteric framework of the Hermetic Qabalah. This ancient system, which shaped the designs of Arthur Waite, Aleister Crowley, Manly P. Hall, and others, became the foundation for my modern and inclusive reimagining of the Tarot. The artist will also share insights into their newest project: a fortune-telling deck that fuses the Lenormand tradition with Polari, the secret language used by gay men in mid-20th-century Europe. This deck transforms a coded language of survival into a contemporary tool for divination and empowerment.
The event will conclude with a group Tarot reading using the Outsider Tarot ( https://www.outsidertarot.com/ ).
BIO: BOBBY ABATE (Brooklyn, NY) is a Queer artist, filmmaker, and editor whose work has been showcased at the Museum of Modern Art’s MediaScope series, the New York Film Festival, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the San Francisco Cinematheque, and most recently at International Objects in NYC. Their Queer Objects series won third place at the 2024 Annual Works on Paper show, juried by Whitney Museum Chief Curator Kim Conaty, who praised the “playfulness in the selection of objects that were meaningful to the artist and in the way Abate captured their spirit.” Bobby’s residencies include the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Art Space on Governors Island (2023), the Constance Saltonstall Foundation in Ithaca, NY (2024), and the VCCA in Amherst, VA (2024). They are the 2024 recipient of the Princess Grace Special Projects Grant, the Leighton International Artist Exchange Program grant for a residency at Zaratan Art Center in Lisbon (2025), and the DVAA Artist Fellowship (2023). Bobby holds an MFA from Bard College. As an editor, Bobby contributed to seasons 3 and 4 of the Queer docuseries We’re Here on HBO, which received Peabody and Television Academy awards. Additionally, they create animations for 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, along with its 200-page guidebook, was presented at the Whitney Museum, Participant INC., and Miami MoCA. It was sold at Artbook at PS1 MoMA and is now part of the permanent collections at Harvard University’s Fine Arts Library and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. Bobby recently completed filming The Ghost at Skeleton Rock, a short film they wrote and directed, based on their coming-out story in 1992 during the height of the AIDS crisis. | https://sweetkitty.com/
SUPPORT | Zaratan – Arte Contemporânea is a structure supported by República Portuguesa – Cultura / Direção-Geral das Artes. Bobby Abate's residency at Zaratan is sponsored by Lighton International Artist Exchange Program https://www.liaep.org