Spiritual ties
A tribute to Montien Boonma, pioneer of contemporary art in Thailand, is on display at Chulalongkorn University
To mark the 60th birthday of Montien Boonma — a pioneer of Thai contemporary art from the 1980s to 2000 and who died on Aug 17, 13 years ago — his close students and assistants have created a commemorative showcase to express their admiration and gratitude to the late master. This is another major event relating to the artist, after the exhibition on his life and work at the Jim Thompson Art Center, which will end early next month.
Prof Somporn Rodboon, who was once Montien’s teacher and who curates ‘‘Spiritual ties: A Tribute To Montien Boonma’’, emphasises that the original concept is to recapture Montien’s vivid, lasting influence and legacy for the current generation of Thai artists.
‘‘We hope this exhibition will bring back memories of Montien Boonma, who was one of the most prominent figures behind the success of Thai contemporary artists and arts academics,’’ says the curator.
Prof Somporn’s motivation is to encourage young people to recognise the artist’s initiatives.
In 1989, Montien graduated with the master of arts from Universite de Vincennes a Saint-Denis in Paris. In that same year he began lecturing at Chiang Mai University. He moved to Chulalongkorn University in 1996 and from 1997 until the end of his life he taught at Silpakorn University.
It’s quite clear from this path that Montien gave much significance to the teaching profession, and to the teacher-student relationship. He once described his way of teaching as the ‘‘Atelier Method’’ — a training method for artists in a professional artist’s studio. The participants in this tribute show are mostly his former students and assistants from Chiang Mai University, who now work as art lecturers and international artists, such as Kitti Maleephan, Navin Rawanchaikul, Thatchai Hongpaeng, Tawachai Puntusawasdi and Udom Chimpukdee.
Only Amrit Chusuwan was Montien’s younger colleague during his days at Silpakon University.
This group of artists has brought tangible and intangible inspiration which they have absorbed from Montien’s works — from his faith, approach and aesthetic application — and translated those impressions into their own visual language.
Of Montien’s outstanding qualities, we must consider his utilisation of raw materials and/or agricultural tools. Back in those days, no-one ever presented them as art.
‘‘Montien was inventive with materials, ranging from natural objects, indigenous materials, found objects, ready-made objects and high-tech materials,’’ adds Prof Somporn. ‘‘They were used both as a manifestation of their real existence and because of the physical and symbolic aspects of Thai society they embodied.’’
One of the pieces in this exhibition that illustrates this idea is Kitti Maleephan’s
Between, 2013. It is an impressive exploration that fits with Montien’s idea of ordinary objects as art. Kitti used three materials — stainless tubes, PVC pipes, an old wooden pillar — and transformed them into a piece of mixed media art. The three materials, Kitti says, represent human beings, civilisation and social matters. Moreover, his selected objects not only depict only what they are or where they came from, but they also try to convince the audience to ask question of birth, life and death. Similarly, Way Of Sacrifice and Existen
ce.Nonexistence, by Thatchai Hongpaeng, also focus on the meaning and interpretation of found objects. Indeed, the artist’s Way of
Sacrifice has a reference to and direct physical influence from Montien’s 1989 work The
Story from The Farm.
Thatchai develops and rethinks the current agricultural situation, which has remained largely unchanged since Montien’s time; the criticism of the unfair treatment of farmers are the messages in both works. In his work, Thatchai installs various tools of farming and husbandry, for instance, bamboo baskets, soil and cowhide, all pointing to the message about how globalisation goes against micro-economic existence. Udom Chipukdee by chance discovered one of Montien’s paintings hidden in a garage in the house where the teacher used to live, and his two tribute pieces called Life Cycle and Faith Of Heart I & II actually corresponds to a concept of the found artwork. In the painting Life Cycle, Udom simulates the organic forms — circles, elliptical — from Montien’s painting he found and extends its abstract execution. Meanwhile Faith Of
Heart I & II is a sculpture of two hearts, a lovely symbol of how he feels connected with his master.
The senior artist of the show, Amarit Chusuwan, came with a video piece called
Flag. It is a still picture superimposed over moving images — if you don’t look carefully, you won’t perceive the subtle movement and the two layers of the images.
Amarit appropriates Montien’s Flag painting from 1981 and re-presents it, still as a symbol of the nation, but it re-iterates Montien’s point of view and commentary on our social development and the political quagmire that hasn’t changed much since the original painting was created 32 years ago.
A multi-media installation by Navin Rawanchaikul is perhaps a great conclusion to this show, since Navin recalls only his direct experiences with Montien, as well as revealing behind-the-scenes stories of the master which the public has never heard before. There’s a mix of media used to support his idea of House Of Hope, which describes Montien’s manners, as well as his close relationship with students.
For instance, Navin uses the handwritten letter he sent to Montien. He also uses a Montien family painting along with a film of Montien’s mother-in-law, played to Chopin’s Funeral March. It’s not mere nostalgia, but an attempt to probe beyond the physical work of the late teacher.
Above all, this exhibition also offers audiences a chance to see some of Montien’s works, including one untitled painting and two mixed-media pieces. For those who want to remember Montien and who want to see how his influence still resonates, this is an exhibition not to be missed.
‘‘Spiritual Ties: A Tribute To Montien Boonma’’ is on display until Sept 7 at The Art Center, Chulalongkorn University.