Published on the occasion of Luna Palazzolo-Daboul’s exhibition Of Ivory & Flesh, this essay moves through penance, exile, weight, and grace to consider the shifting relationship between artist, artwork, and viewer. Drawing together personal reflection, philosophy, and Luna’s sculptural practice, the text remains with the contradictions at the center of her work: structure and surrender, gravity and transcendence, presence and disappearance. Rather than resolve these tensions, the essay approaches looking as an act of attention—one in which the artwork remains independent of both the artist who made it and the viewer who encounters it.

Primary (Est. 2007) is a context and research-driven curatorial collective with an emphasis on public art. We thrive amongst the self-taught, working-class misfits, who explore the margins of a new Americana through pungent, human-focused narratives. Our program engages with the raw and uncanny, celebrating border voices, bootleg culture, and intergenerational commentary, connecting the new and unseen with broader audiences and evolving collections.

For further information, please contact info@thisisprimary.com