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Exhibition

Pacita Abad

October 21, 2023–January 28, 2024
Floor 4

Experience vibrant works by a daring artist who traveled the world.The first retrospective of Pacita Abad (born 1946, Basco, Philippines; died 2004, Singapore) features more than 40 works including her signature trapunto paintings: stuffed, quilted canvases Abad adorned with materials and methods she investigated during her lifetime. Over a 32-year career, the prolific artist made a vast number of artworks that traverse a diversity of subjects—from colorful masks to intricately constructed underwater scenes to abstract compositions—revealing visual, material, and conceptual concerns that still resonate today.

When Abad left Manila in 1970, she stopped to visit her aunt in San Francisco where she found a city thrumming with radical political and creative activity. This context of Bay Area progressiv­ism formed the crucible of her growing engagement with art, and her extensive world travels, beginning in 1973, solidified her commitment. Abad, who became a U.S. citizen in 1994, spent time in more than 60 countries across six continents, including Sudan, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Afghanistan, with longer stays in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. Through her travels, she interacted with myriad artistic communities, incorporating diverse cultural traditions—from Korean ink brush painting to Indonesian batik—into her expansive practice. The portability of these works and use of textiles Abad collected on her travels further reflected her peripatetic existence.

Abad’s embrace of quilting and other kinds of needlework confounded critics, who dismissed her works as naïve, childlike, and ethnic. In fact, Abad’s multifaceted practice articulated a powerful material politics, reflecting her vision of a nonhierarchical world. This exhibition celebrates Abad’s bold self-determination, commitment to social justice, and radical artistic experimentation.

Kilalanin ang makulay na mga likhang-sining ng isang matapang na artista na naglakbay sa mundo.Ang unang retrospective o pagbabaliktanaw ni Pacita Abad (ipinanganak noong 1946 sa Basco, Pilipinas; yumao noong 2004 sa Singapore) ay nagpapakita ng mahigit sa 40 mahahalagang obra kasama ang kilala niyang mga kuwadrong trapunt – pinalamanang mga tinahing canvas na quilted (pinagsama-samang piraso ng tela) na ginayakan ni Abad ng materyales at gamit ang mga iba’t ibang paraan na natutunan niya sa kanyang buong buhay. Sa kabuuan ng 32 taong karera ni Abad, gumawa siya ng napakaraming obra tungkol sa iba’t ibang paksa, mula sa mga makukulay na maskara hanggang sa masalimuot na pagkakagawa ng mga eksena sa ilalim ng dagat hanggang sa mga abstract na komposisyon–na ipinapakita ang biswal, materyal at mga alalahanin konseptwal na mahalaga pa rin hanggang ngayon.

Noong umalis si Abad sa Manila sa edad na 24 noong 1970, binisita niya ang kanyang Tita sa San Francisco, kung saan niya natagpuan ang isang masigla na lungsod puno ng radikal at kreatibong aktibidad. Nagbunga ang kanyang pakikilahok sa sining dahil sa konteksto ng progresibismo sa Bay Area. Lalo na siyang naging matatag sa kanyang paniniwala noong nag umpisa siyang maglakbay mula 1973. Naging mamamayan ng Estados Unidos (U.S. citizen) si Abad noong 1994, at gumugol ng panahon sa higit na 60 bansa sa anim na kontinente, kasama na ang Sudan, Bangladesh, Thailand, at Afghanistan. At tumira siya nang mas matagal sa Estados Unidos, Pilipinas, Indonesia, at Singapore. Nakipag-interaksiyon si Abad sa iba’t ibang komunidad ng artista sa pamamagitan ng kanyang pagbibiyahe, kung kaya’t nasasama niya sa kanyang mga obra ang iba’t ibang artistikong tradisyon — mula sa Koreanong ink brush painting hanggang sa batik ng Indonesia –tungo sa kanyang malawak na paglikha. Sinasalamin ang mga karanasan at paglalakbay ni Abad sa buong mundo ang katangian ng kanyang mga obra at paggamit ng tela na nabibitbit sa kung saan-saan.

Nalito ang mga kritiko sa paggamit ni Abad ng quilting at iba’t ibang uri ng pananahi at itinuring ang kanyang mga nilikha bilang simple, pambata, at etniko. Sa katunayan, ang detalyadong paglikha ni Abad ay nagpapahayag ng kapangyarihan ng material politics o ang politikang kaugnay ng mga bagay at sangkap. Sinasalamin nito ang kanyang pananaw ukol sa mundo kung saan walang herarkiya. Ipinagdiriwang ng eksibisyong ito ang mapangahas na na pagpapasya sa sarili, pananagutan sa hustisyang panlipunan, at radikal na artistikong pag-eeksperimento ni Abad.


Pacita Abad with her trapunto painting Ati-Atihan, 1983, wearing garments and jewelry collected on her travels; courtesy Pacita Abad Art Estate

“I have always believed that an artist has a special obligation to remind society of its social responsibility.”

— Pacita Abad

 
Born in the Philippines to a family of politicians, Abad was greatly influenced by her family’s public service. In 1970, after leading a student demonstration against the Marcos regime, Abad left the Philippines. She intended to move to Madrid to finish a degree in law, but a stop in San Francisco to visit relatives became a long-term stay that would change the trajectory of her life.
Read Abad’s full biography.


Exhibition Preview

Pacita Abad (installation view, SFMOMA); photo: Tenari Tuatagaloa
Pacita Abad, If My Friends Could See Me Now, 1991; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Peggy Guggenheim; courtesy Pacita Abad Art Estate; photo: Don Ross
Pacita Abad, Anilao at Its Best, 1986; courtesy the Pacita Abad Art Estate and MCAD Manila; photo: At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios
View of the exhibition Pacita Abad: A Million Things to Say, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, 2018; image: courtesy the Pacita Abad Art Estate and MCAD Manila; photo: At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios
View of the exhibition Pacita Abad: Life in the Margins, Spike Island, Bristol, UK, 2020; courtesy Pacita Abad Art Estate and Spike Island, Bristol; photo: Max McClure
View of the exhibition Pacita Abad, Walker Art Center, 2023; image: courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; photo: Eric Mueller
Pacita Abad, My Fear of Night Diving: Assaulting the Deep Sea, 1985; collection Lopez Museum and Library, Manila, Philippines; courtesy Pacita Abad Art Estate and Lopez Museum and Library
Pacita Abad, European Mask, 1990; Tate: purchased with funds provided by the Asia-Pacific Acquisitions Committee 2019; courtesy Pacita Abad Art Estate and Tate; photo: At Maculangan/Pioneer Studios
View of the exhibition Pacita Abad, Walker Art Center, 2023; image: courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; photo: Eric Mueller
Pacita Abad, L.A. Liberty, 1992; collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, T.B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2022; courtesy Pacita Abad Art Estate and Spike Island, Bristol; photo: Max McClure

Pacita Abad: Wild at Art

Playing in Steps Coffee
Director/Producer: Kavery Kaul | Duration: 08m:33s| Format: Color/SD

In this re-digitized 1995 film, Abad discusses her background, passion for world travel, and using her art as a vessel for highlighting the influence and diversity of women’s art practices around the world. Wild at Art (1995) was directed by Kavery Kaul. This film is an Asian Women United Presentation, a Riverfilms Production, and an Academy Film Archives Restoration.

Watch Wild at Art in Steps Coffee, on the 2nd floor, throughout the exhibition.


Pacita Abad is organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Generous support for Pacita Abad at SFMOMA is provided by the Neal Benezra Exhibition Fund and The Elaine McKeon Endowed Exhibition Fund.

Meaningful support is provided by Jill Cowan and Stephen Davis, the Mary Jane Elmore West Coast Exhibition Fund, Ella Qing Hou and J. Sanford Miller, Rummi and Arun Sarin Painting and Sculpture Fund, Pat Wilson, and Salle Yoo and Jeffrey Gray.

Community support is provided by the Stuart G. Moldaw Public Program and Exhibition Fund.

The Walker Art Center organized the exhibition with major support provided by Martha and Bruce Atwater; Ford Foundation; the Henry Luce Foundation; the Martin and Brown Foundation; Rosemary and Kevin McNeely, Manitou Fund; and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Exhibition curated by Victoria Sung, Phyllis C. Wattis Senior Curator at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), and former associate curator, Visual Arts, Walker Art Center; with Matthew Villar Miranda, curatorial associate at BAMPFA, and former curatorial fellow, Visual Arts, Walker Art Center. SFMOMA’s presentation is organized by Eungie Joo, curator and head, contemporary art, and Nancy Lim, associate curator, painting and sculpture, with Alison Guh, curatorial associate, contemporary art.

Header image: Pacita Abad (installation view, SFMOMA); photo: Tenari Tuatagaloa