Pacita Abad
Through the Looking Glass, 1996
Oil, acrylic, sequins, and plastic buttons on stitched and padded canvas
Dimensions:
59 x 208 5/8 inches
149.9 x 529.9 cm
59 x 208 5/8 inches
149.9 x 529.9 cm
ABSTRACT EMOTIONS SERIES In her “Abstract Emotions” series, Abad references her experiences collecting textiles in Indonesia, including visiting batik centers in Surakarta, ikat weaving centers in Sumba, batik factories in...
ABSTRACT EMOTIONS SERIES
In her “Abstract Emotions” series, Abad references her experiences collecting textiles in Indonesia, including visiting batik centers in Surakarta, ikat weaving centers in Sumba, batik factories in Yogyakarta, as well as her trips to aboriginal lands in Australia’s Northern Territories and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The later works in the “Abstract Emotions” series contemplate Abad’s emotional loss after her mother’s passing in 1991. Tying together the emotive impulse present in post-war Western abstraction with the heritage traditions of the Global South, Abad’s series offers a modernist hybridity based in solidarity and lived experience rather than appropriation.
In her “Abstract Emotions” series, Abad references her experiences collecting textiles in Indonesia, including visiting batik centers in Surakarta, ikat weaving centers in Sumba, batik factories in Yogyakarta, as well as her trips to aboriginal lands in Australia’s Northern Territories and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The later works in the “Abstract Emotions” series contemplate Abad’s emotional loss after her mother’s passing in 1991. Tying together the emotive impulse present in post-war Western abstraction with the heritage traditions of the Global South, Abad’s series offers a modernist hybridity based in solidarity and lived experience rather than appropriation.
Exhibitions
Life in the Margins, Spike Island, Bristol, Jan. 18–May 31, 2020, Robert Leckie, Pio Abad, curator.Pacita Abad: A Million Things to Say, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila, April 12th–July 1st, 2018, Joselina Cruz, Pio Abad, curator.
Pacita Abad: Through the Looking Glass, The Esplanade, Singapore, March 4 - April 23, 2006, Michelle Tan, curator.
The Sky is the Limit, August 8 - September 23, 2001, Galleri Stockgard, Siuntio, Finland.
Abstract Emotions, National Museum, Jakarta, April 29 - May 17, 1998, Edi Setdyawati, curator.
Exploring the Spirit, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, July 10 - 28, 1996.
Literature
Victoria Sung, ed. Pacita Abad (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2023), 240-41.Pacita Abad: A Million Things to Say. Manila: Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, 2018. Exhibition catalogue. 61-64.
Pacita Abad: Exploring the Spirit. Manila: Metropolitan Museum of Manila, 1996. Exhibition catalogue. 46.
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