KENT, OH.- The Kent State University Museum announced its spring exhibition, “John Paul Morabito: Madonna dei Femminellə,” a solo exhibition by the head of the textiles program at Kent State University’s School of Art. Consistent with the Kent State University Museum’s mission to showcase exceptional textile art and to inspire the next generation of artists, the exhibition includes 14 woven tapestries by John Paul Morabito (they/them), displayed in the museum’s historic Higbee Gallery.

“Showcasing these works in the Higbee Gallery sets off both the architectural interest of the space – with the soaring ceilings and classical pilasters – and the splendor of the works in their brilliant color palette. The exhibition design reinforces how beautiful a fit the tapestries are in the museum’s gallery,” said Museum Curator Sara Hume, Ph.D.

The work included in this exhibition is from the series “Magnificat,” which explores the artist’s identity both as a queer person and as a Catholic Italian American. Morabito adapts the work of Italian old masters into these tapestries woven on a digital jacquard loom. In reimagining these paintings, Morabito incorporates glass beads, which evoke both the splendor of Catholicism and the sensibilities of camp.

In choosing textiles as their medium, they explore the status of the art form itself, which has historically been held in lower regard than painting. Morabito refers to these works as tapestries, using the term in a broad sense to describe textiles as artworks, rather than in the more technical definition of a weaving with discontinuous weft. In reworking these canonical images, Morabito updates them not only with garish colors but with technically sophisticated weaving techniques made visible in chevrons, zigzags and meanders. The choice of tapestry as a medium is essential in both creating the desired aesthetic, as well advocating for making visible communities who have struggled to achieve recognition and acceptance.

“It is my great pleasure to share my work with the community here at Kent State University,” Morabito said. “Our museum and textiles program have contributed to the development and excellence of the fiber arts for many decades – I am honored to be part of that legacy. The tapestries in this exhibition are situated at the edge of many borders to propose a new world. I hope to offer a space where those who have been rejected, cast aside and disavowed might find the divine grace that has been denied to them.”

“Assistant Professor John Paul Morabito is an active visual artist and scholar, whose work has gained national and international recognition,” said Jillian Sokso, director of Kent State’s School of Art. “Their commitment to a research-based studio practice in transdisciplinary weaving is unwavering and has resulted in prominent consideration and accolade within their own field in particular, and in the contemporary art sphere generally; thus, we are thrilled to have this exhibit featured in the Kent State University Museum so that students and community members will have access to their excellent, timely and thoughtful work.”

This exhibition follows the successful 2022 exhibition “Dancing with the Distance” by the former head of the textiles program at Kent State and award-winning artist Professor Emerita Janice Lessman-Moss. Lessmann-Moss, who is a sponsor of Morabito’s exhibition, said, “With John Paul Morabito’s deep experience and vision, the textile program at Kent State has continued to flourish, and I couldn’t be happier to have this distinguished artist at the helm! Supporting the museum’s presentation of these beautiful and provocative tapestries is a sincere pleasure for my husband and me, providing our community with a glimpse into Morabito’s studio practice.”

In 2024, Morabito was named a United States Artists Fellow for their significant contributions to weaving and contemporary art. Morabito has exhibited at international venues, including the Zhejiang Art Museum in Hangzhou, China; the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, an affiliate of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines, Iowa; the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, Kansas; the Center for Craft in Asheville, North Carolina; and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Their work is represented in public and private collections, including the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec in Montréal, Canada. Morabito holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Morabito is represented by Patricia Sweetow Gallery in Los Angeles.

The exhibition is curated by Hume and will be open to the public from March 21 to June 22, 2025.