Art through Thailand’s eye
It was a full house at Bangkok Art And Culture Centre’s auditorium last week as artists, curators and art enthusiasts attended a talk by Saatchi Gallery’s director and chief executive Nigel Hurst on the history of the renowned contemporary London gallery.
The event also i ncluded t he much-expected announcement of the 25 Thai artists selected to feature in the “Thailand Eye” exhibition, which will display at Saatchi Gallery starting this November before travelling back to Bangkok Art and Culture Centre in March.
The exhibition is the last in the event series in celebration of the 60th anniversary of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and the 160th anniversary of Thailand-UK diplomatic relations in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. The past two events were the three-day Thai Film Festival at BAFTA and the khon performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
In an opening speech, permanent secretary for culture Apinan Poshyananda said the exhibition, containing almost 100 art pieces by 25 artists, is a compilation of Thailand’s most outstanding and creative artworks that stem from the root of Thai art and culture. The selection was made by Nigel Hurst himself as well as Thai and UK art experts. There will also be a publication of a book compiling life stories and artworks of more than 70 Thai contemporary artists.
Before the announcement, Hurst gave a short, yet definitive tour of the gallery’s history through a slideshow. The Saatchi Gallery was founded in 1985 and has since staged numerous revolutionary contemporary shows with artists ranging from Donald Judd, Brice Marden, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, John Chamberlain, Robert Gober, and many more.
Hurst said the core mission of the gallery is to push creative and contemporary artists to continue creating the works regardless of where they are in the world. He added that not only did the judges have a tough job in coming up with the selection, the 25 selected artists themselves also had to think hard about how to present their works so that the show excites viewers, not works that will just be seen and forgotten.
The 25 Thai artists picked for the show include new-blood talents as well as established masters. Some of the big names to go to Saatchi include Chatchai Puipia, Manit Sriwanichpoom, Natee Utarit, Panya Vijinthanasarn, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Sakarin Krue-On, Navin Lawanchaikul, while some of the younger artists include Korakrit Arunanondchai, Bussaraporn Thongchai and Viriya Chotpanyavisut.