Pacita Abad: The First Retrospective of Pacita Abad's Paintings, co-curated by Victoria Sung and Renée van der Avoird, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

The exuberant and wide-ranging works of the late Philippine-born artist Pacita Abad make their Canadian debut as part of her first retrospective. This acclaimed exhibition includes more than 100 artworks showcasing Abad's experiments in different mediums: textiles, works on paper, paintings, prints, and a range of archival material and studio ephemera. Much of Abad’s work is defined by her engagement in social justice and her exploration of materials. She is best known for her large-scale hanging trapuntos, a form of quilted painting made of stitched and stuffed canvas.

Fleeing the Marcos regime in the Philippines, Abad arrived in the United States in 1970. Largely self-taught, her work resonates with the various artistic communities she encountered on her global travels, incorporating a diversity of cultural traditions and techniques—from Korean ink brush painting to Indonesian batik. Under-recognized in her lifetime, her work is defined by her engagement with social justice and evolving material exploration.

Organized by the Walker Art Center in collaboration with Abad’s estate, the exhibition is 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.

The AGO presentation is organized by Renée van der Avoird, Associate Curator, Canadian Art.