Pacita Abad: The First Retrospective of Pacita Abad's Paintings, Curated by Victoria Sung, at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

15 April - 3 September 2023

Overview

MINNEAPOLIS, November 15, 2022 — On April 15, 2023, the Walker Art Center will open the first retrospective of artist Pacita Abad (U.S., b. Philippines, 1946–2004), featuring significant and rarely-seen works from across her 32-year career. Pacita Abad will serve as the most comprehensive exploration of Abad’s works to-date, including more than 100 objects drawn from private and public collections across Asia, Europe, and the United States. A largely self-taught artist, Abad developed a distinct visual vocabulary that embraced the artistic traditions of global cultures and actively blurred the boundaries between fine art and craft. While Abad was engaged in artistic and political dialogues during her life, the depth, range, and inventiveness of her work is only now coming to prominence. The forthcoming presentation positions Abad within art historical narratives, providing new insights into her conceptual and aesthetic evolutions as well as the life experiences that so richly influenced her practice. Following its run at the Walker, through September 3, 2023, the exhibition will travel to the San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMOMA).

Pacita Abad is curated by Victoria Sung, Associate Curator of Visual Arts at the Walker, with support from Matthew Villar Miranda, Curatorial Fellow in Visual Arts at the Walker. The exhibition is developed in collaboration with the Pacita Abad Art Estate, managed by Jack Garrity, Kristi Garrity, and Pio Abad, which provided unprecedented access to archival materials, including photographs, correspondence, sketchbooks, and other primary sources, as well as to the depth of existing artworks by the artist. Pacita Abad is also accompanied by new scholarship in a 352-page catalogue, edited by Sung, and with texts by Sung and Miranda as well as by Julia Bryan-Wilson, Professor of LGBTQ Art History at Columbia University; Ruba Katrib, Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoMa PS1; Nancy Lim, Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at SFMOMA; and Xiaoyu Weng, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario. It also features an expansive oral history, edited by Sung and Pio Abad, with 20 contributors, including artists, curators, family members, and friends.

Exhibition Tour

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis: April 15–September 3, 2023

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: October 21, 2023–January 28, 2024

MoMA PS1, New York: March 28–September 2, 2024

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: October 12, 2024–January 19, 2025

Watch Walkthrough Video with Victoria Sung and Pio Abad

Watch Opening Day: Victoria Sung in conversation with Pio Abad and Shabbir Hussain Mustafa

Full Press Release can be downloaded below