Work samples

  • Lavender Shrine Installation detail
    Lavender Shrine Installation detail
  • Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image
    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    2022

  • Books for Divination detail
    Books for Divination detail

    “Books for Divination”
    Solarfast Dye on Archival Paper and cotton
    Dimensions Variable. 2023

  • Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy: Performance detail. Washington DC. 2021.

About Alexander

Baltimore City

Alexander D'Agostino is an interdisciplinary artist and teacher based in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2009 with a BFA in painting. He investigates the queer and otherworldly through dance, ritual, teaching, and visual art. His work has been presented at Vox Populi in Philadelphia, VisArts in Rockville, the Center for Contemporary Art of Afghanistan in Kabul, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Chashama's summer performance series in Manhattan,… more

Torpedo Spell

In June of 2023, I performed "A Spell for the Forgotten" at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia, that corresponded  with my exhibition "A Shrine to the Forgotten." The performance, centered around a WW2 torpedo made at the factory itself, was a ritual to honor the building's queer history, countering the current anti-queer climate and laws in the USA. Drawing inspiration from the homoerotic paintings of queer artist Yannis Tsarouchis, I adopted a fairy persona to bring local queer stories to life through ritual and audience participation. 

  • Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.
    Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.

    Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.

    2023

  • Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.
    Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.

    Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.

    images from various archives of queer histories of Alexandria, VA and notes were placed on the torpedo during the performance. Throughout the performance Alexander would read from a d scatter the pages around the torpedo. 

    2023
     

  • Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.
    Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.

    Torpedo Spell. Performance Image.

    2023

  • Torpedo Spell. Performance image
    Torpedo Spell. Performance image

    Torpedo Spell. Performance image.

    2023

  • Torpedo Spell

    An interactive performance at the Torpedo Factory engaging the space with local queer history ritual magic. People were invited to write memories and stories to be added to the shrine created during the performance out of a WW2 naval torpedo, flowers, and other objects.

A Shrine to the Forgotten

 

Through an Artist Research Fellowship at the Folger Shakespeare Library I am reimagining the magic and rituals outlined in an 16th Century Book of Magic, Manuscript Vb.26, The Book of Magic with instructions for invoking spirtis,etc, while considering needs and beliefs of LGBTQ people today. Magic and LGBTQ activism both employ imagination and action to bring about change and attention to the unseen and invisible. LGBTQ people have always used secret-codes and magic to survive and exist.

To this day there are 14 pages missing from Manuscript Vb.26. I am curious about where those pages are and why they were missing. In this exhibition, I imagine them found in a box that may have been stored in the Torpedo Factory when it was being used as a storage facility for the FBI and Smithsonian Institute before it was turned into an artist space. The missing pages are presented as torn fragments of pages, scattered throughout the exhibition.

This site-specific installation in the Target Gallery consists of large textile prints, artist books and sculptural works that explore hidden and erased stories, witch-hunts, book-bans and don’t say gay bills. Images from Manuscript Vb.26 and my own ritual practice are collaged with images sourced from the National Archives of the Torpedo Factory when it was used as a Federal Records Center shortly after WW2, along with witch hunting documents and an archive of vintage gay pornography that was discovered by a neighbor in a box of an old antique shop in Baltimore.

This body of work is created using light and shadow to present works that explore hidden often erased stories. The prints on textiles, which I call Queer Shrouds, are made using cyanotype chemicals and solar fast dyes. I store them Leather books called Queer Shroud Grimoires, and install them on walls in grids called Queer Shroud Grids. The chlorophyll prints (prints on leaves) use sunlight, shadow, and the chlorophyll in the plant to print images on the surface of the leaves. The large textiles, dried lavender, and other organic materials create a shrine-like environment to hold people in the space. Small intimate objects allow people a quieter sense of discovery and storytelling. The Smaller books, are used for bibliomancy, a form of divination that involves randomly selecting a page from a book to extract meaning and guidance. I encourage people to lead with emotional curiosity when viewing this exhibition, because I truly believe that connection to our own feelings and senses is crucial in understanding the collective needs of others.

In this current moment, a moral panic where misinformation and fear of the other informs a grotesque and divisive political landscape, it is important know that LGBTQ+ people are omnipresent throughout history and will always exist. This show proudly celebrates magic, queerness and the power of the hidden and mysterious. A Shrine to the Forgotten is a spell of remembrance.

This exhibition contains material sourced from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, The Torpedo Factory Art Center’s National Archives, and a performance with Siren Arts and Transformer DC in Ashbury Park, New Jersey. 

  • Queer Shroud Grid: Torpedo Factory
    Queer Shroud Grid: Torpedo Factory

    “Queer Shroud Grid: Torpedo Factory”
    Solarfast Dye and Cyanotype on cotton, Lavender
    130L”X70”H. 2023

  • Queer Shroud Grid: Torpedo Factory (detail)
    Queer Shroud Grid: Torpedo Factory (detail)

    “Queer Shroud Grid: Torpedo Factory”
    Solarfast Dye and Cyanotype on cotton, Lavender
    130L”X70”H. 2023

  • Books for Divination
    Books for Divination

    “Books for Divination”
    Solarfast Dye on Archival Paper and cotton
    Dimensions Variable. 2023

  • Books for Divination detail
    Books for Divination detail

    “Books for Divination”
    Solarfast Dye on Archival Paper and cotton
    Dimensions Variable. 2023

  • A Fairy King Spell to win the battle against Witch-hunting
    A Fairy King Spell to win the battle against Witch-hunting
  • A Triptych for the Forgotten
    A Triptych for the Forgotten

    “Triptych for the Forgotten”
    Mix Media Installation
    Dimensions Variable. 2023

  • A Triptych for the Forgotten detail
    A Triptych for the Forgotten detail

    “Triptych for the Forgotten”
    Mix Media Installation
    Dimensions Variable. 2023

  • A Triptych for the Forgotten
    A Triptych for the Forgotten

    “Triptych for the Forgotten”
    Mix Media Installation
    Dimensions Variable. 2023

  • A Triptych for the Forgotten detail
    A Triptych for the Forgotten detail

    “Triptych for the Forgotten”
    Mix Media Installation
    Dimensions Variable. 2023

  • Full Moon
    Full Moon

    "Full Moon"

    Solarfast Dye on Cotton

     

Prospero's Last Spell/Calm Before the Storm

"Prospero's Last Spell/Calm Before the Storm," was a durational performance that meditated on the idea of having magical powers and how give them back. I become Propsero, lamenting his banishment and the futility and corruption of magic when used to gain power over others. During the performance in invited people to take lavender and Chloroprints to scatter into the ocean. 
Siren Arts Summer Performance Series:SALT 
Asbury Park 
2022

 

  • Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image
    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    2022

  • Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image
    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image.

    during the performance chlorophyll prints on leaves were handed to people who were told to throw them in the ocean.

  • Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image
    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image. (A witch encounters a bat)

    2023

  • Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image
    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    Prospero’s Last Spell/Calm before the Storm performance image

    2022

  • Prospero's Last Spell/Calm Before the Storm. Performance Excerpt.

    Prospero's Last Spell/Calm Before the Storm

    Performance

    2022

    Durational performance that meditated on the idea of having magical powers and how give them back. I become Propsero, lamenting his banishment and the futility and corruption of magic when used to gain power over others. During the performance in invited people to take lavender and Chloroprints to scatter into the ocean. 
    Siren Arts Summer Performance Series:SALT 
    Asbury Park 
    2022

Lavender Shrine

In Lavender Shrine, I explore the history of the Lavender Scare, a Cold War-era moral panic targeting gay and lesbian employees in the federal workforce. In a new 
series created for the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington SOLOS 2022, I juxtaposed images of the Museum's Tiffany 
windows with images drawn from the Lavender Scare period, connecting the funerary nature of my ongoing Queer Shrouds project to the history of the windows. 
120 of my queer shrouds filled one wall of the gallery. Incorporating images drawn from vintage gay porn and other queer archives, the work highlights the existence of queer networks and underground communities, the very groups the Lavender Scare moral panic targeted. Other pieces incorporate news coverage related to the investigations and purges, evoking the atmosphere of fear, paranoia, and secrecy they created. In contrast, references to groundbreaking gay rights activist Frank Kameny and early gay rights organization the 
Mattachine Society pay homage to the individuals who faced down the moral panic. 
Lavender itself is included in multiple pieces, reclaiming and embracing the moral panic’s titular plant. Accumulated in front of Queer Shroud Grid: Lavender Scare, the lavender’s abundant presence is both funereal and defiant. It honors the past, creates beauty in the present, and 
builds strength for the future.

  • Queer Shroud Grid: Lavender Scare
    Queer Shroud Grid: Lavender Scare

    “Queer Shroud Grid: Lavender Scare”
    Mixed Media Installation
    130”LX88”H.. 2022

  • Queer Shroud Grid: Lavender Shrine (detail)
    Queer Shroud Grid: Lavender Shrine (detail)

    “Queer Shroud Grid: Lavender Scare”
    Mixed Media Installation
    130”LX88”H.. 2022

  • Lavender Shrine installation detail
    Lavender Shrine installation detail

    Lavender Shrine 
    Mixed Media Installation
     

  • A Spell to Rename the James Webb Telescope
    A Spell to Rename the James Webb Telescope
  • A Spell to Rename the James Webb Telescope (detail)
    A Spell to Rename the James Webb Telescope (detail)
  • Lavender Lad
    Lavender Lad
  • Tiffany Windows
    Tiffany Windows
  • Lavender Shrine Installation detail
    Lavender Shrine Installation detail
  • Tiffany Window
    Tiffany Window
  • Queer Shroud Grimoire
    Queer Shroud Grimoire

Lavender Scary Fairy

The Lavender Scary Fairy was performance/exhibition by Alexander D’Agostino  meditating on the history of and resistance to the Lavender Scare, a post-Cold War moral panic in the US,where thousands of gay employees were  fired or forced to resign from the federal workforce under homophobic laws and  policies. This sparked ongoing acts of resistance to homophobic and discriminatory  policies that positioned homosexuals and sexual-minorities as threats to national  security. Even today, we see fear based policy and legislative action that echoes the  same scare tactics and nationalist agendas of the Lavender Scare. 

The processional performance began at Transformer Gallery, where I activated a shrine-like installation and became the "Lavender Scary Fairy" before continuing onto Logan Circle, where people would receive lavender blessing from Lavender Scary Fairy.  Performance relics were on display at Transformer the following week of the  performance.

  • Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy: Performance detail. Washington DC. 2021.
  • Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Mr. Anonymous Shrine
    Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Mr. Anonymous Shrine
  • Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Lavender Lad Shrine
    Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Lavender Lad Shrine
  • Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Queer Spirit Grid
    Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Queer Spirit Grid
  • Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Queer Spirit Grid (detail)
    Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Queer Spirit Grid (detail)
  • Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Queer Spirit Grimoire
    Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Queer Spirit Grimoire
  • Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy: Performance detail. Washington DC. 2021.
  • Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy performance detail.
    Lavender Scary Fairy: Performance detail. Washington DC. 2021.
  • Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Lavender Lad
    Lavender Scary Fairy Installation: Lavender Lad
    Lavender Scary Fairy: Installation detail. Washington DC. 2021.
  • Lavender Scary Fairy Performance Video

The Book of Sodom

A Grimoire is magical book of spells, often written in code and passed through multiple generations and contributed by multiple authors. My Grimoire, The Book of Sodom, is a large hand-bound book of 90 pages, written in an esoteric alphabet called Theban, or “the witch’s alphabet” so the information can hide in plain sight. It is a collection of queer codes, lexicons, rituals and mythologies harvested through research and embodying queer history.

This Grimoire first appeared when I performed “Queer Curiosity” at the Walters Art Museum in September of 2018, when I asked the audience to rip up pieces of paper and write the names of queer ancestors and spells for queer justice that I would add to the Grimoire. The spells that people wrote were beautiful, sad, honest and empowering. At the core of my practice is a want to enchant people to celebrate and empower their own lives. I want to develop the artistic research methods of gathering queer histories and rituals.

  • Queer Curiosity
    Queer Spirit Invocation and Affirmation Ritual at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. 2018
  • Book of Sodom
    Book of Sodom
    Book of Sodom Installation at School 33 Art Center. Baltimore Maryland. 2019.
  • Book of Sodom
    Book of Sodom
    Book of Sodom Installation at School 33 Art Center. Baltimore Maryland. 2019.

Video

Investigations with dance, ritual and the moving image.

  • Queer-Soulstess
    This video was created for a Digital Dream Baby Cabaret, and online event curated by Jacob Budenz for The winder Solstice in 2020. During the pandemic I started to create works exploring the history of folklore and ritual and culture surrounding Fairies. This video considered the queer history of the Radical Fairies, a loosely affiliated worldwide countercultural movement that sought to redefine queer consciousness through ritual, play, and re-imaged pagan rituals.
  • Mayfairwitch
    Shortly after lockdown began in March of 2020, a Rat found its way into my kitchen. The anxiety of the new covid-way of living with a creature associated with the plague inspired a series of rituals and actions hoping to tap into divine resources for the removal of the rats.Cats ultimately became the solution.
  • Stallions
    The parallels between ballet and horseback riding was the trigger for this (self)portrait of me and my twin brother. Fraternal twins are a unique circumstance of exactly the same and entirely different. We are both gay, but I might be more queer, he more gay. We both study mechanics and language of the human body. In my case, my movement and gesture communicate information to an art audience. In his practice, he uses his body to communicate to an animal. This is an ongoing investigation that will emerge in video and performance as we continue our conversation about twinning. June 2015.
  • Goat Taps
    A goats investigation of Appalachian flatfooting and clogging. The rustic/psychedelic footage become allows the dance to access a folkloric sparkle. Story telling without words. Summer 2013
  • Rain Dance
    A short dance film. In search of my own fairytale, I found Swan Lake splashing in puddles by the Station Building at 4AM. Baltimore. Spring 2014

WITCH-BONES

Ritual is everyday. Sometimes, the most powerful rituals happen over a long period of time, with no clear beginning, middle and end. As part of CHASAMA summer performance series, WITCH BONES was presented at the 266 West 37th Street location in New York City from July 24-July 30th. WITCH BONES was an ongoing ritual of magic, dance, and movement research. Working with artists Noelle Tolbert and Porter Witsell, and Li Cata the durational performances function as an archeological dig for new movements, ideas, and performance rituals. On occasion, someone would knock on the door and ask to participate in the rituals. The films extracted from the rituals function as Notes for choreography. I can rebuild and understand the content that emerged from each ritual. Witch-Bones was performance laboratory for all of us to discover and uncover tools and ideas to carry into larger more refined dances and rituals and intentions.
  • Witch Bones
    Witch Bones
    Inside/outside view
  • Witch Bones: Notes for Choreography
    Notes for Choreography Extracted: 7-24-14 Featuring: Anonymous
  • Witch Bones: Notes for Choreography
    Notes for Choreography Extracted: 7-29-14
  • Witch Bones Notes for Choreography
    Notes for Choreography Extracted 7-25-14 Featuring Noelle Tolbert and Porter Witsel
  • Witch Bones: Notes for Choreography
    Notes for Choreography Extracted: 7-24-14 Featuring Porter Witsel