Abad, Pacita, 1946-2004

Pacita Abad (October 5, 1946 – December 7, 2004) was born in Basco, Batanes, a small island in the northernmost part of the Philippines, between Luzon and Taiwan. Her more than 30-year painting career began when she traveled to the United States to undertake graduate studies in Spain. She exhibited her work in over 200 museums, galleries and other venues, including 75 solo shows, around the world. Abad's work is now in public, corporate and private art collections in over 70 countries ...

Born in Batanes, Philippines in 1946, Pacita Abad was the daughter of a congressman, who had hoped that she would traverse a similar political path.

But the course of Pacita’s life changed after she started her law studies and begins organizing student demonstrations in Manila opposing the Marcos regime and protesting fraudulent elections in Batanes. Her family is targeted and their home in Manila was sprayed with bullets. Because of the increased political violence in 1969 her parents urged Pacita to leave Manila and finish her law degree in Spain.

On the way to Europe she stops to visit a relative in San Francisco and decides to study in America. The move was a huge cultural shock for Pacita, as a sheltered Asian Catholic girl she plunged into the vibrant city scene bursting with racial and religious diversity, drugs, music and political protests. Pacita embraced the exhilarating experience while continuing with her graduate studies. She then met and married artist, George Kleiman, who introduced her to painting and the San Francisco art world. The relationship was short-lived, and in 1973 she decided to spend a year traveling by land across Asia with Jack Garrity, a development economist.