In her lifetime, critics were hard-pressed to categorise Pacita Abad. But a new exhibition is set to open the public’s eyes to her creations
There are people who, despite the best attempts of those around them, cannot be described simply as one thing or another. These people are defined by their complexity, their ability to present themselves as any of a dozen or more things all at once.
Such is the case of Filipino-American artist Pacita Abad. Over the course of a career that spanned over three decades, art scholars and critics have pondered as to what specific category or genre she would best fit into. She has been referred to as an “itinerant artist” or even a “global artist,” both allusions to the scope and inspirations behind many of her works. There are those who categorise her as an OFW, given that she was a Filipina working overseas though not in the conventional capacity of the famed migrant workers. But that barely scratches the surface of who Pacita Abad and what she stood for during and even after her lifetime.
A new exhibition of Abad’s work, the first to be held in the country since 2005, invites the public to take a closer look at the artist who passed away in 2004. It could, perhaps, give a better understanding of who she was and what inspired the creation of over 5,000 pieces which range from paintings to an entire bridge in Singapore covered with multi-coloured circles.
Mounted at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design at the De La Salle University-College of St Benilde in Manila, Pacita Abad: A Million Things to Say takes its name from two things. The first is I Have a Million Things to Say, the title of a mixed-media piece made by Abad towards the end of her life. The second is the fact that her work always seemed to convey hundreds, even thousands, of ideas and sentiments all at once.
“We wanted to reorient how we see Pacita Abad,” explains MCAD director and curator Joselina ‘Yeyey’ Cruz. “She is one of the few Filipino artists who looked outside the Philippines for inspiration and influences on her work. We want this exhibition to show the complexity of her identity as both person and artist.”