Pacita Abad
Bio
Pacita Abad (b. 1946, Batanes, Philippines - d. 2004, Singapore) is known for her large-scale quilted trapunto paintings characterized by vibrant color and accumulated materials. Marked by vivid colors and intricate materials, her expansive paintings span a broad spectrum of themes, drawn in form and concept from a number of ethnic traditions of craft and thought. From portraying tribal masks and social scenes to intricate underwater landscapes and abstract forms, Abad's work transcended borders.
In 2023, Abad was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at The Walker Art Center, which traveled later to SFMOMA. The exhibition will then travel to MoMA PS1 and Art Gallery Ontario in 2024–2025. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the National Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia; Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, The Museum of Philippine Art, Manila; Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila; Bhirasri Museum of Modern Art, Bangkok, Thailand; Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore; The National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; and the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, among others. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including: Beyond the Border: Art by Recent Immigrant, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York; Asia/ America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, a traveling exhibition organized by the Asia Society, New York; Olympiad of Art, National Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, Korea; 2nd Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan; and La Bienal de Habana, Havana, Cuba.
Selected Works
Selected Works
things
Video
Selected Exhibitions
Selected Press
- Pacita Abad Retrospective Headed to Toronto
- Pacita Abad, MoMA PS1 review — the joy of colour and a magpie instinct
- Stitch by Stitch, Pacita Abad Crossed Continents and Cultures
- In praise of Pacita Abad
- Pacita Abad: The Foreigner Everywhere
- Pacita Abad’s art inspires wonder at the Venice Biennale & MoMA PS1
- 5 Standouts From the 2024 Venice Biennale
- Overlooked During Her Lifetime, Filipino American Artist Pacita Abad Has Suddenly Become a Global Star
- Pacita Abad Wove the Women of the World Together
- ‘Love is Like A Heat Wave’: Celebrating Pacita Abad’s Works
- See Inside the Revelatory Retrospective for Filipino American Artist Pacita Abad
- Pacita Abad
- One Fine Show: ‘Pacita Abad’ at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- Pacita Abad A Revelation At San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art
- At SFMOMA, Pacita Abad’s Painted Textiles Stare Right Back
- 10 groundbreaking Filipino Americans in US history
- The Decades-Strong Path of Color Set Ablaze By Pacita Abad
- SFMOMA announces acquisition of more than 100 objects that underscore collecting priorities
- Going under the surface with Pacita Abad
- Taking Liberty | Murtaza Vali on the art of Pacita Abad
- Pacita Abad exhibition on view until September 3 at Walker Art Center
- 25 Pathbreaking Asian American Artists Whose Names You Need to Know
- Layered and Embellished Trapunto Paintings Exude Spirit in Pacita Abad’s First Retrospective
- Coloring in the Margins: Pacita Abad
- Inspired by world travel, Pacita Abad’s work is now on display at the Walker Art Center
- Filipina American artist Pacita Abad finally gets her due at the Walker Art Center
- First-of-its-kind retrospective of Filipino artist Pacita Abad opens at the Walker
- Pacita Abad’s Art of Excess
- The Top 10 Exhibitions to See in April 2023
- Walker Art Center Announces 2023 Exhibition Schedule
- S.E.A. Focus: 4 Unmissable Booths
- Pacita Abad: Stitched, Padded, and Layered Senses of Self
- 10 Under-Recognized Artists Who Got Their Due in 2021
- Pacita Abad: World Citizen
- Late Filipina artist Pacita Abad receives first solo exhibition in Middle East
- Tate | Entangled Modernities
- Who Was Pacita Abad, the Pioneering Filipina Painter Honored by Google Doodle?
- Google honours pioneering Filipina feminist artist Pacita Abad
- Pacita Abad: Google Doodle commemorates Philippine artist and activist
- Pacita Abad, a Painter of Women Around the World, Celebrated With a Google Doodle
- The story of the ‘very extra’ Pacita Abad whom Google just honored with a doodle of the day
- Pacita Abad in Bristol: where art, craft and politics intersect
- How textiles tell a story of empire and globalisation
- Pacita Abad at Spike Island, Bristol
- From the Bauhaus to the Venice Biennale: How textiles became art
- Frieze London Shows the Art World Has Cottoned On to Weaving
- Frieze London 2019 review – gags, tapestry and hardcore ceramic panda sex
- An important show of Pacita Abad's trapuntos reveal her discipline behind the exuberance
- Pacita Abad: the global Filipino artist who had a million things to say