PACITA ABAD

Early Years

Pacita Abad was born in Batanes, Philippines, in 1946. She was raised in a large, politically engaged family; her father served as a congressman. Initially studying political science at the University of the Philippines, she became active in the student movement against the Marcos dictatorship. Following violent clashes during a protest, Abad fled the country in 1969, first travelling through Asia and then settling in San Francisco.

In America, Abad pivoted from activism to art, enrolling at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and later the Art Students League in New York. These formative years marked the beginning of a lifelong practice deeply intertwined with political consciousness and transnational experience.

Artworks

Pacita Abad's artworks are characterised by vivid colours, textile layering, and her distinctive trapunto technique: stuffed, quilted canvases embellished with beads, mirrors and fabric. Her work merged craft traditions with a contemporary, socially engaged lens.

Early Works and Social Portraits (1970s–1980s)

Pacita Abad's early paintings addressed themes of displacement and political struggle. Works like her Portraits of Cambodia series documented refugee experiences, combining acrylic paint with stitched textiles to create emotionally charged surfaces.

Trapunto and Global Symbols (1980s–1990s)

Her signature trapunto technique emerged in the early 1980s. Influenced by indigenous crafts, her Masks and Spirits and Endless Blues series explored global spiritual and decorative traditions, often inspired by places she had lived.

Migration and Identity (1990s)

Her Immigrant Experience series spotlighted labour, exile, and cultural identity, drawing from her own journey and observations across continents. These multilayered works combined visual richness with social critique.

Monumental Works (2000s)

Even during her final years, Pacita Abad produced large-scale pieces, including painting the Alkaff Bridge over Singapore River with 55 different colours and over 2,300 circles.

Public Commissions

• Alkaff Bridge, Singapore (2004)

Awards and Accolades

• Fulbright-Hays Grant (1979)
• Ten Outstanding Young Men Award (1984), first woman to receive the award in the visual arts category

Exhibitions

During her 32-year career Pacita Abad held over 60 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 70 group exhibitions at museums and galleries in Asia, the U.S, Africa and Latin America.

Solo Exhibitions

• Pacita Abad: Survey, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2023)
• Pacita Abad: I Thought the Streets were Paved with Gold, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (2021)
• Pacita Abad: Life in the Margins, Spike Island, Bristol (2020)
• Circles in My Mind, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore, GENOME Institute of Singapore, Singapore, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila, Andrewshire Gallery, Los Angeles (2003–2004)
• Endless Blues, Artfolio Space, Singapore, Hadeland Museum, Hadeland, Galleri Stockgard, Siuntio (2003–2002)
• The Sky is the Limit, The Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, Singapore (2002)
• Abstract Emotions, Hiraya Gallery, Manila, National Museum, Jakarta (1998)
• Pacita Abad: Artists + Community, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. (1994–1995)

Group Exhibitions

• SWEAT, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2021–2022)
• 13th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, Korea (2021)
• Whose Tradition?, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool (2020–2022)
• 11th Berlin Biennale, Gropius Bau, Berlin (2020)
• Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia, 1969–89, National Gallery Singapore, Singapore (2019–2020)
• Women Beyond Borders, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Broken Hill, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney, The Boral Timber Gallery, University of Sydney, Sydney, Tinsheds Gallery, University of Sydney, Sydney, Newport Community Center, Mayo, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, Gallery One, Tokyo, Akino Fuku Museum, Tenryu (1999)
• Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, Asia Society Galleries, New York, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, Honolulu Academy of Fine Arts, Honolulu, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Houston (1994–1996)
• The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger, Minnesota Museum of Art, St Paul, , Barbican Centre, London, Musée des Arts Africains et Océaniens, Paris, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Konst-museum, Göteborg, Sweden, Sonja Henie-Niels Onstad Foundations, Oslo (1987–1990)
• Segunda Bienal de la Habana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana (1986)

Critical Reception

Pacita Abad's work has been widely reviewed in leading publications including Frieze, Hyperallergic, ArtAsiaPacific, and the New York Times.

FAQs

Clemmie Melvin | Ocula | 2025