PIO ABAD'S ART LISTED FOR TURNER PRIZE

LONDON — It's not often that we encounter works of art by kababayans in our visits to museums abroad so when we came upon Pio Abad's work at Tate Britain, we were thrilled; even more so when we realized that he was one of four finalists for the prestigious Turner Prize, commended by jurors for his "precision and elegance with which he combines research and new artistic work to ask questions of museums and bring history to the present with sensitivity and clarity."

- RICKY TOLEDO & CHITO VIJANDRE

The Turner, presented to British visual artists or artists based in Britain, was established in 1984 and has become the UK's most publicized art award, fueling debate on new developments in contemporary art and courting controversy through works like Damien Hirst's 1991 shark in a formaldehyde tank and Tracey Emin's 1998 disheveled bed — much like the time when J.M.W. Turner, after whom the prize is named, also disrupted the status quo in the 1800s with his new approach to landscape painting that changed the course of art history, as many Turner Prize winners aspire to do to this day.

This year, Abad, together with his co-finalists Claudette Johnson, Delaine Le Bas and Jasleen Kaur, all coincidentally reflected on personal and socio-political histories and how they continue to resonate in our lives.

Abad tackles cultural loss and colonial histories, often ruminating on his upbringing in the Philippines where he was born in 1983 to parents Butch and Dina Abad, whose roles as activists in the fight for social justice inform his works. His aunt, the late artist Pacita Abad, whose estate he curates, encouraged him to study art abroad, landing him in Glasgow in 2004 and the Royal Academy in 2009. Solo shows followed in London and Manila where he had exhibits at Silverlens in 2013 and 2017 and one at Ateneo Art Gallery in 2022, aside from shows in San Francisco and Ontario in 2019.