Antoni Abad

Antoni Abad is a contemporary artist born in Lleida, Spain in 1956. He is known for his work in digital art, performance, and video art, exploring the possibilities of new technologies to communicate and reflect on social and political issues. Abad trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona and later obtained a Fulbright scholarship to study at the University of California, San Diego. It was there that he began experimenting with technology and art, creating his first digital artwork in 1995. Since then, Abad has produced a large body of work that uses technology to explore social and political issues. One of his most well-known projects is "Zexe.net", an online platform that allows marginalized people in different countries to share their stories and experiences using mobile phone cameras. Another of his notable works is "Megafone.net", a performance installation involving a megaphone connected to a GPS system that allows participants to record and transmit their messages in real time over the internet. Abad has exhibited his work in major art institutions around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His work has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades, including the National Prize for Digital Art in Spain in 2012 and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in 2004. Abad continues to explore the possibilities of technology and art to communicate and reflect on social and political issues, and his work has been an important contribution to digital art and performance in the contemporary art scene.