Assembly: Art in the Bar - Pio Abad

Exhibition / Arddangosfa: Saturday 23 February – Sunday 30 March 2008 / Dydd Sadwrn 23 Chwefror - Dydd Sul 30 Mawrth 2008

Opening times / Ar Agor: Monday – Sunday 9am–10.30pm / Dydd Llun - Dydd Sul 9am-10.30pm

Pio Abad’s intricate black, white and red ink drawings of interwoven patterns are often set against vibrant, coloured backgrounds, sometimes consisting of wallpaper designed by the artist. In his work, he pursues the grotesque as a creative strategy in examining the function of excess and is interested in its degenerative possibilities as a visual quality.

From pompadour wigs to totalitarian floor patterns, his work features recurring structures that are at once seductive and terrifying. Abad’s work viusalises our own schizophrenic relationship with luxury and explores the irrevocable links between the pompous and the primal, the ornamental and the excremental, the decadent and the delusional.

For Chapter, Abad will create a site-specific installation featuring a selection of drawings alongside sculptural elements and the pillars of Chapter’s bar will be transformed into colourful symbols of luxury and decadence.

Biography

Pio Abad graduated with a BA in Fine Art (Painting and Printmaking) from Glasgow School of Art in 2007 after completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) at the University of the Philippines, Manila in 2004.

Since his recent graduation he has won a number of awards and residencies, among them ‘Print Commission’, Co-Publications Programme, Edinburgh Printmakers, 2008; ‘Artist in Residence’, Springboard Programme, Cove Park, 2007; One-Year Studio Grant, Studio Warehouse Glasgow, 2007; William and Mary Armour Travel Bursary, 2007 and he was a finalist of the Nationwide Mercury Art Prize in 2007.

His work will been shown in ‘Art futures’, Bloomberg Space, London, 2008 and as been exhibited in ‘Reveal’, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, 2008; ‘Braveart’, Atlantis Gallery, London, 2007; ‘Terra Nova IV’, Mackintosh Gallery, Glasgow, 2007; ‘Nationwide Mercury Art Prize’, Hospital Gallery, London, 2007; ‘The Feast’, Assembly Gallery, Glasgow, 2007; ‘The Bakery’, Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, Glasgow, 2006; ‘Image Nation: Contemporary Illustration in Scotland’, Collins Gallery, Glasgow, 2006.

For more information about Pio Abad, please contact Elena Schmitz on 029 2031 1050, visual.arts@chapter.org

Image: Pio Abad, Dogeaters Discourse, 2007. Ink on paper, 42cm x 60cm. Image courtesy the artist.

Click on the links below to read press reviews of Pio Abad's show at Chapter:

23 Feb 2008 Assembly: Art in the Bar - Pio Abad Click here to see images of works by Pio Abad and installation images from his exhibition at Chapter. more