PACITA ABAD

Widely defined by her use of colour, something she remained adamant about from her early studies, Abad pioneered new forms of materiality in her work, illustrated in one instance by her widely celebrated trapunto paintings, a form of quilted painting the artist originated by stitching and stuffing her painted canvases instead of stretching them over a frame. Her oeuvre featured an immense array of subject matter, from tribal masks and social realist tableaus to lush and intricately rendered underwater scenes and abstractions. Accumulating materials, techniques, and subjects from her vast travels, oftentimes within the same composition, Abad was uniquely positioned to explore modernity’s uneven development with the greatest care, as a figure born outside of the metropole. Her work predates contemporary discourses around postcolonial feminisms, globalisation and transnationalism, offering an intuitive understanding of the mutability and heritability of traditions in the places she lived.

Abad studied painting at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Arts Student League in New York. Abad is the subject of a major travelling retrospective, opening at the Walker Arts Center in 2023. She has also received solo exhibitions at the Jameel Arts Center, Dubai (2021); Spike Island, Bristol (2020); the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila (2018); National Museum, Jakarta (1998); The National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C (1994); Hong Kong Arts Centre (1986); Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila (1985); and the Bhirasri Museum of Modern Art, Bangkok (1980), among others.

Her work has been featured at notable exhibitions, including the 11th Berlin Biennale; 13th Gwangju Biennale; 4th Kathmandu Triennale; Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, a travelling exhibition organized by the Asia Society, New York; Beyond the Border: Art by Recent Immigrants, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York; La Segunda Bienal de la Habana, Cuba; and Second Contemporary Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. She has also participated in group exhibitions at institutions including: Haus Der Kunst, Germany; Tate Liverpool; Para Site, Hong Kong; and the National Gallery, Singapore. Her work can be found in the collections of Tate Modern, London; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., M+ Museum, Hong Kong and the National Gallery of Singapore. She died in Singapore in 2004.

Courtesy Tina Kim Gallery