You Colored the World
And pissed off the boys
You stroked the world with color explosions
that broke a boy-barrier,
winning a Young Men’s Award
in spite of not being invited to the club,
spitting paint in the face of misogyny,
spilling pigments in celebration of art
that is not gender-bent,
not sold in boys clubs,
not testosterone-tainted,
art that stretches wildly across a river
reaching for shores women couldn’t walk.
We celebrate you, Pacita, Google and me
and many more, for being you in a world
that never saw anyone like you,
a world that struggled to own you, as if it could,
bringing art to the people
and people to the art,
beautifying what wasn’t,
leaving a legacy of color.
Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the day that Pacita Abad, a female artist and activist from the Philippines, won a coveted artist award previously only given to men, the Ten Outstanding Young Men art award (The TOYM) of the Philippines.
You can read more about Pacita Abad here. As a lover of vivid colors, Abad’s vibrant art thrills me like none other.
