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Pacita Abad: The First Retrospective of Pacita Abad's Paintings, co-curated by Victoria Sung and Ruba Katrib at MoMA PS1, New York

Past exhibition
4 April - 2 September 2024
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  • Installation Views
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Overview
Pacita Abad, The First Retrospective of Pacita Abad's Paintings, co-curated by Victoria Sung and Ruba Katrib at MoMA PS1, New...

This spring MoMA PS1 presents the first retrospective of artist Pacita Abad (Filipina-American, 1946-2004). Spanning the artist's 32-year career, the exhibition includes more than 100 works-most of which have never been on public view in the United States prior to this exhibition-showcasing her experiments across mediums, including textiles, works on paper, costumes, and ceramics.

 

Largely self-taught, Abad is best known for her trapuntos, quilted paintings made by stitching and stuffing her canvases as opposed to stretching them over a wood frame. After moving to the United States in 1970 to escape political persecution from the authoritarian Marcos regime, Abad sought to give visibility to political refugees and oppressed peoples through her work. "I have always believed that an artist has a special obligation to remind society of its social responsibility," she said.

 

Organized by the Walker Art Center in collaboration with Abad's estate, the presentation celebrates the multifaceted work of an artist whose vibrant visual, material, and conceptual concerns push forward salient conversations around globalization, power, and resilience.

The exhibition is accompanied by the first major publication on Abad's work, produced by the Walker. The volume is edited with text by Victoria Sung and includes contributions from Julia Bryan-Wilson, Nancy Lim, Ruba Katrib, Xiaoyu Weng, and Matthew Villar Miranda, as well as a comprehensive oral history by Pio Abad and Sung.

 

Pacita Abad is organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. The exhibition is curated by Victoria Sung, Phyllis C. Wattis Senior Curator at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and former Associate Curator, Visual Arts, Walker Art Center, with Matthew Villar Miranda, curatorial fellow, Visual Arts, Walker Art Center. The presentation at MoMA PS1 is organized by Ruba Katrib, Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, MoMA PS1, with Sheldon Gooch, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA PS1.

 

Watch Video Talk with Ruba Katrib, Joan Kee and Pio Abad

 

Watch NYC-ARTS on PBS on "Pacita Abad" at MoMA PS1 

 

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Installation Views
  • Courtesy of MoMA PS1. Photos by Kris Graves.
    Courtesy of MoMA PS1. Photos by Kris Graves.
  • Moma Ps1 Apr 2024 Install 3
  • Moma Ps1 Apr 2024 Install 6
  • Moma Ps1 Apr 2024 Install 5
  • Moma Ps1 Apr 2024 Install 4
  • Moma Ps1 Apr 2024 Install 2
Press
  • Best New York City Art Shows of 2024

    Hakim Bishara, Hyperallergic, December 12, 2024
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  • Pacita Abad

    Marissa Vigneault, Panorama (Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art), October 2, 2024
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  • ‘Powerful’ MoMA showcase for late Filipino artist Pacita Abad’s work

    Richard James Havis, South China Morning Post, August 26, 2024
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  • The Charismatic Vitality of Pacita Abad’s Trapuntos

    Jackson Arn, New Yorker, August 23, 2024
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  • How Pacita Abad Wove a Multicultural Tapestry of Humanity

    Elisa Carollo, Observer, August 20, 2024
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  • Pacita Abad, MoMA PS1 review — the joy of colour and a magpie instinct

    Ariella Budick, The Financial Times, August 12, 2024
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  • Stitch by Stitch, Pacita Abad Crossed Continents and Cultures

    Andrew Russeth, The New York Times, August 1, 2024
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  • Pacita Abad Sees the Soul of an Artifact

    Enzo Escober, Momus, July 5, 2024
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  • 15 Art Shows to See in New York City This Summer

    Lisa Yin Zhang, Hyperallergic, July 1, 2024
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  • Filipino artist Pacita Abad’s first retrospective unveiled at NY exhibit

    Hans Carbonilla, Inquirer, June 27, 2024
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  • 10 Art Shows to See in NYC This June

    Julie Schneider, Hyperallergic, June 4, 2024
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  • In praise of Pacita Abad

    Dorothy Delgado Novicio, The Philippine Star, June 2, 2024
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  • What Not to Miss During Frieze New York

    Kat Herriman, W Magazine, May 3, 2024
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  • Three Innovative Exhibitions by Women at MoMA PS1

    Staff Writer, Queens Gazette, May 1, 2024
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  • Fifteen exhibitions to see in New York this spring

    Gabriella Angeleti, Elena Goukassian, Annabel Keenan, Sophia Kishkovsky, Wallace Ludel, Allison C. Meier, Benjamin Sutton and Linda Yablonsky, The Art Newspaper, April 28, 2024
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  • Pacita Abad’s art inspires wonder at the Venice Biennale & MoMA PS1

    Lala Singian, Inquirer, April 26, 2024
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  • The art of blankets, quilted paintings at MoMA PS1

    Michael Gannon, Queens Chronicle, April 25, 2024
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  • Pacita Abad Threaded Together Bold Solidarities

    Mimi Wong, Asian American Arts Alliance, April 19, 2024
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  • Pacita Abad Wove the Women of the World Together

    Jasmine Liu, The Nation, April 18, 2024
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  • Pacita Abad Stitched the Immigrant Experience into Her Embroidered Paintings

    Maxwell Rabb, Artsy, April 5, 2024
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  • MoMA PS1 Presents First Retrospective of Pacita Abad Opening April 4

    Staff Writer, City Life.Org, March 21, 2024
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