Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo

Club EXILE in Atlanta is a show of artwork by queer-identified, Cuban-American artist Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo (b. 1986, Miami, FL), who explores stained glass and mosaics through his practice. 

The Club EXILE project started as a response to the 2016 shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL, whose victims were primarily queer latino/as. As the project evolved, Club EXILE became a way of thinking through exile as a space that connects multiple identities of marginalized peoples. 

In this work, mirror mosaics (DISCOmosiacs) reference the disco ball and the dance floor, often articulated as a sacred space for the queer community. In the Atlanta Contemporary show, the old coal chute leading to the basement is transformed into an altar with portraits of the Pulse Nightclub and Club Q shooting victims surrounded by fabric flowers and devotional objects. Neons, a dichroic glass disco ball, DISCOmosaic wall pieces and sculptures reflect light around Chute Space.

In the midst of different imagery throughout Club EXILE, the flying fish emerges as a symbol of queer hope - when a fish learns to fly to escape predation, blurring boundaries between sky and water in an almost supernatural way.

Presented by Forward Arts Foundation