Walker Art Center to Present First Retrospective of Artist Pacita Abad
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Walker Art Center to Present First Retrospective of Artist Pacita Abad

Exhibition Programming Begins Friday, April 14 with After Hours: Pacita Abad

The exuberant and wide-ranging works of Pacita Abad (US, b. Philippines, 1946–2004) are the subject of the first-ever retrospective spanning the artist’s 32-year career. Abad is best known for her trapuntos, a form of quilted painting made by stitching and stuffing her canvases as opposed to stretching them over a wood frame. During her lifetime, 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. The exhibition includes more than 100 works—most of which have never been on public view in the United States—showcasing her experiments in different mediums, including textiles, works on paper, costumes, and ceramics. Organized by the Walker in collaboration with Abad’s estate, the presentation celebrates the multifaceted work of an artist whose vibrant visual, material, and conceptual concerns are as urgent today as they were three decades ago.

Abad moved to the United States in 1970 to escape political persecution after leading a student demonstration against the authoritarian Marcos regime. Informed by this experience, she was determined to give visibility to political refugees and oppressed peoples through her art: “I have always believed that an artist has a special obligation to remind society of its social responsibility.” Works from her Immigrant Experience series (1983–1995) highlight the rising multiculturalism of the 1990s. These works call attention to the era’s contradictions and omissions, centering the sufferings and triumphs of people on the periphery of power. The multiplicity of stories referenced in the series include such events as the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the Haitian refugee crisis, and the detention of Mexican migrant workers at the US border, offering an intimate look at lives often obscured by the reductive, xenophobic headlines of the time.

Though she became a US citizen in 1994, Abad lived for several years in a number of countries around the world, including Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines, Singapore, and Sudan. Largely self-taught, she interacted with the various artistic communities she encountered on her travels, incorporating a diversity of cultural traditions and techniques—from Korean ink brush painting to Indonesian batik—into her expansive practice. Abad’s global, peripatetic existence is reflected in the portability of her works and in her use of textiles, a medium often associated with female, non-Western labor and historically marginalized as craft.

The exhibition is accompanied by the first major publication on Abad’s work, produced by the Walker. In addition to the most comprehensive documentation of the artist’s work to date, the volume includes texts by Victoria Sung, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Nancy Lim, Ruba Katrib, Xiaoyu Weng, and Matthew Villar Miranda as well as oral histories conducted with artists, curators, family members, and others who knew Abad, edited by Pio Abad and Victoria Sung.

CURATORIAL TEAM 
Victoria Sung, associate curator, Visual Arts; with Matthew Villar Miranda, curatorial fellow, Visual Arts

EXHIBITION TOUR 
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis: April 15–September 3, 2023
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: October 21, 2023–January 28, 2024
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: October 12, 2024–January 19, 2025

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Pacita Abad (1946–2004) has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions, including I Thought the Streets Were Paved with Gold at the Jameel Arts Center, Dubai (2021); Life in the Margins at Spike Island, Bristol (2020); and A Million Things to Say at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila (2018). Her work has been featured in group exhibitions, including the 58th Carnegie International (2022); the Kathmandu Triennale 2077 (2002); the 13th Gwangju Biennale (2021); and the 11th Berlin Biennale (2020). Her work can be found in the collections of Tate Modern, London; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; and National Gallery of Singapore, among others. Her art and archives are managed by the Pacita Abad Art Estate in Los Angeles. Visit pacitaabad.com for more information.

 

After Hours: Pacita Abad
Friday, April 14, 2023, 8:30 pm–12 am
$25 (Free for Walker members) 

Be among the first to preview the vibrant works of the newly opened exhibition Pacita Abad at this late-night preview party. The celebration includes DJ Larry Peace, Julia Starr, and live music by Jaedyn James. Guests will also enjoy small bites, specialty cocktails, and a drop-in art-making workshop. Taking a nod from Pacita herself, we invite you to dress in your brightest, most patterned attire!

Members attend this After Hours event free! Join or renew at walkerart.org/membership.

Opening-Day Panels: Pacita Abad 
Saturday, April 15, 2023, 1 pm 

In celebration of the opening of the exhibition Pacita Abad, join us for two panel discussions that explore the artist’s complex relationships to her diasporic identity and exuberant material practice.

The first panel explores the critical position of Abad (US, b. Philippines, 1946–2004) as a Filipina American artist, working in crucial periods in the Philippines and the United States that deeply questioned identity and nation. Following is a second panel that examines how Abad’s cosmopolitan persona and art practice intimately entwined to complicate easy categories of craft, geography, and time.

1 pm: Eungie Joo in conversation with Stephanie Syjuco and Angel Velasco Shaw

3 pm: Victoria Sung in conversation with Pio Abad and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa

Evening for Educators: Pacita Abad  
Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 5–7 pm 

Join us for an educator-focused celebration of the exhibition Pacita Abad. Enjoy guided tours of the exhibition, participate in art-making and gallery activities inspired by Abad’s work, and gather resources to share with your students.

RSVP by Tuesday, April 18. Space is limited.

This event is free and open to K–12 teachers of all disciplines. Teachers may bring one additional guest. Parking validation will be provided.

Free First Saturday: Pacita’s Party
Saturday, May 6, 2023, 10 am–3 pm 

Celebrate the life and work of artist Pacita Abad with a day of artist-led activities, immersive textile artworks, and vibrant colors wherever you look. In honor of Abad, you’re invited to come to Free First Saturday wearing your brightest hues and boldest patterns.

Free First Saturday also includes free gallery admission from 10 am to 5 pm on the first Saturday of every month. Gallery admission tickets are available on-site on the event day from the Main Lobby desk; quantities are limited.

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