A Thoughtful Gift

2019 - Sculpture (Sculpture)

33.02 x 25.4 x 1.91 cm

Pio Abad


A Thoughtful Gift by Pio Abad is based on a version of a letter written by the former First Lady of the United States, Nancy Reagan to the former First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos. Written in 1986, the letter assures Marcos of their safety from persecution in the United States, following widespread anti-government protests across the Philippines. The Marcoses were granted exile in the United States by the Reagan administration and they eventually fled to Honolulu. The gesture of inscribing the letter onto marble functions as symbolic recuperation and concretizes the complicity, extent, and aftermath of the Marcos-Reagan friendship. It serves as a reminder of the flippant deployment of protection from the United States defense at the highest level, long after the country’s independence and despite recommendations from the State Department to remove Marcos from power. A Thoughtful Gift rings the bell on historical revisionism, erected as a marker for histories that have been unintentionally or intentionally altered.


In his practice, Pio Abad looks into the social and political significance of objects usually consigned to the sidelines of history. Abad uses different media such as textile, drawing, installation, and photography, and employs strategies of appropriation to extract alternative readings and repressed historical events. Abad ties threads of complicity between events, ideologies and people. His artworks glide seamlessly between these histories, enacting quasi-fictional combinations with their leftovers and weaving together threads of complicity between events, ideologies, and people. Abad was artist-in-residence at KADIST San Francisco from April to June 2019, where he conducted research into narratives of exile and displacement from the 1970s and 80s that brought Filipinos to California.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

The Red City of the Planet of Capitalism
© » KADIST

Bahar Noorizadeh

2022

The Red City of the Planet of Capitalism is part of a three project lineage, following Bahar Noorizadeh’s research on the architecture of the Soviet Union...

Hyangro Yoon’s Paintings Are a Bold Take on Our Data-Obsessed Era
© » ARTSY

Hyangro Yoon’s Paintings Are a Bold Take on Our Data-Obsessed Era | Artsy Skip to Main Content Advertisement Art Hyangro Yoon’s Paintings Are a Bold Take on Our Data-Obsessed Era Daehyung Lee Jan 30, 2024 10:55PM Hyangro Yoon, Tagging-H , 2022...

Sodiq, Tobi, Nonso and Tonnex
© » KADIST

Sabelo Mlangeni

2019

The Royal House of Allure is a name of a safe house on mainland Lagos where members of the queer community in need of boarding, due to various circumstances, live together...

Kosovo Serbs Protest Euro-Only Policy as Bank Offers Transition Period
© » PRISHTINA INSIGHT

Kosovo Serbs Protest Euro-Only Policy as Bank Offers Transition Period - Prishtina Insight Home Kallxo Jeta në Kosovë Drejtësia në Kosovë Gazeta JNK Log In Subscribe News Features Opinion Guide Big Deal Archive Follow @prishtinsight Citizens in North Mitrovica protest euro only policy regulation of the Kosovo Central Bank; Photo/BIRN Kosovo Serbs Protest Euro-Only Policy as Bank Offers Transition Period Kosovo Serbs on Monday held a protest in North Mitrovica against the new rule enforcing use of the euro as the sole currency, as the Central Bank announced a three-month 'transition' period and measures to ease implementation of the policy...

Above the Weather
© » KADIST

Jason Dodge

2007

In Algeria, Djidjiga Meffre has woven a fabric with a string, a length equal to the distance from the earth to troposphere...

Dubai-Based Collector Gaelle Alexis on Disrupting Social Mores Through Art - via artnet news
© » LARRY'S LIST

We caught up with Belgian collector Gaelle Alexis at her home in Dubai, where she is using art's soft power to push boundaries....

Text and image: Laurie Fendrich and Peter Plagens
© » TWOCOATSOFPAINT

Text and image: Laurie Fendrich and Peter Plagens – Two Coats of Paint John Coplans photo portrait of Peter Plagens and Laurie Fendrich, c...

Eli Broad, the Proudly ‘Unreasonable’ Art Collector Who Changed the Cultural Landscape of Los Angeles, Dies at 87 - artnet news
© » LARRY'S LIST

Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, an influential and philanthropist who opened a namesake museum for his art collection, is dead at 87....

Anna Uddenberg at The Perimeter
© » CONTEMPORARYARTDAILY

Documentation of Anna Uddenberg at The Perimeter, London is featured on Contemporary Art Daily....

Neda Razavipour “Du corps à l’âme”
© » ARTPRESS

Neda Razavipour "Du corps à l’âme" - artpress X 27 octobre 2023 Dans AP Web , arts visuels Neda Razavipour “Du corps à l’âme” Par Esther Teillard...

Miu Miu is launching beauty products in 2025
© » WALLPAPER*

Miu Miu beauty line will launch in 2025 | Wallpaper (Image credit: Courtesy of Miu Miu) By Hannah Tindle published 9 February 2024 Today (9 February 2024) Miu Miu has announced its exclusive worldwide partnership and licence agreement with L’Oréal Groupe for the creation, development, and distribution of a luxury beauty line...

Closing the Distance
© » AESTHETICA

Aesthetica Magazine - Closing the Distance Closing the Distance “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” These are the words of photojournalist and Magnum co-founder Robert Capa (1913-1954)...

Der Wanderer 3
© » KADIST

Elina Brotherus

A subject’s back stands before a landscape of mountains, arid and majestic, Der Wanderer 3 revisits the theme of man versus nature dear to Romantic painting and the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich in particular...

Karolina Halatek: The power of light
© » THE RE:ART

Karolina Halatek: The power of light - The re:art Karolina Halatek: The power of light In her immersive site-specific installations, Polish artist Karolina Halatek uses light as the main medium...

Clockenflap December 2023: stage guide, the food, drink and activities on offer, how to pay for things and how to get there – everything you need to know
© » SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Clockenflap December 2023: stage guide, the food, drink and activities on offer, how to pay for things and how to get there – everything you need to know...

Screening of "Fast Trip, Long Drop", a film by Gregg Bordowitz
© » KADIST

Saturday, June 14 at 1pm: Screening of the film “Fast Trip, Long Drop” (1994) by Gregg Bordowitz with an introduction by the artist...

Perro en Tlalpan (Dog in Tlalpan)
© » KADIST

Gabriel Orozco

1992

Gabriel Orozco often documents found situations in the natural or urban landscape...

At every sunset, I think of you
© » KADIST

Haig Aivazian

2013

This work is part of an ongoing project that looks at international sports competitions as a revealing element of nationalistic aspirations which present contradictions...

Doctor Who TARDIS And Sculpture Appear On South Bank
© » LONDONIST

Doctor Who News: Tennant Regenerates Into Gutwa On London's South Bank Doctor Who TARDIS And Sculpture Appear On South Bank By M@ M@ Doctor Who TARDIS And Sculpture Appear On South Bank See David Tennant regenerate into Ncuti Gatwa.....

Deredemiux
© » KADIST

Kadar Brock

2007

Kadar Brock creates dynamic abstract paintings that are born from a process of painting, scraping, priming, sanding, and painting again...