Past
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SUBLIMATION
Diana Palermo
March 30 - May 17, 2019Diana Palermo
Photos courtesy Diana Palermo and Ryan Patrick Kruger © 2019
Follow this link to learn more about Diana Palermo’s art practice in their new book SUBLIMATION.
“The symptom: a language that gives up, a structure within the body, a non-assimilable alien, a monster, a tumor, a cancer that the listening devices of the unconscious do not hear, for its strayed subject is huddled outside the paths of desire.”
— Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror
Palermo’s work in SUBLIMATION is fueled by personal experiences growing up queer in a culture governed by Catholic morality. Within this framework, the conversation expands upon sexual sublimation and relative abject impulses. Unlike repression, sublimation allows for an indirect use of these desires as an expression of raw carnal essence. In their work, Palermo confronts the norms and acceptable levels of gender and sexual expression. They break down and rebuild systems and structures both conceptually and visually, emboldening the viewer to own their nuanced narratives, their bodies, their voices, and their sexuality.
Diana Palermo (b. 1987, they/them) is a visual artist from New Jersey who works primarily in printmaking, fiber, and photo
processes. They received their BFA in crafts with a concentration in fiber media in 2010 from
the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. They also received their MA in Art Education in
2013 from Kean University. They have shown their work internationally at galleries and
museums most notably the Newark Museum and Montclair Art Museum. They have had their
works published in books and magazines including The Pattern Base. They currently hold a
residency at Index Art Center in Newark, NJ and have been a resident at the Vermont Studio
Center.