Pio Abad, 'Dogeaters Discourse', 2007
Ink on paper, 42cm x 60 cm.
Pio Abad', Dogeaters Discourse', 2007
Mixed media installation.
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 his exhibition at Chapter gallery, Pio 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.
Pio Abad graduated with a BA in Fine Art (Painting and Printmaking; First class) 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 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 at 'ArtFutures', Bloomberg Space, London, 2008, and has 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. He is also slated to have a drawings show at the Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh in 2009.
Pio Abad
Until 30 March
Chapter
Market Road
Canton
Cardiff CF5 1QE
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