Press Release
(EN)
Blue Fantasy : ประวัติศาสตร์เพ้อฝัน
A Photographic Solo Exhibition
By Kamonlak Sukchai
30 April – 19 June 2022
Opening reception date: 30 April 2022
Open for visit everyday.
11.00 am – 7.00 pm
Curated by Sirima Chaipreechawit
HOP PHOTO GALLERY
3rd floor, MUNx2, Seacon Square, Srinakarin.
Google map : https://goo.gl/maps/caQgLisLvvkaz3Gu5
Plunging viewers into the whimsical world of Kamonlak Sukchai where the Thai traditional narratives and chronicles have been crafted as one of the core ingredients that sprinkles on top of its contemporary social structure in order to control its belief system and enhance
the authorities’ political power throughout history. ‘Blue Fantasy’ series continues to showcase her vibrant collages of photographs, collective images, letters and historical documents intertwined together to reflect the complex layers of the system’s inequality and inequity affected by the frequently narrated classic annals devoted to glorify and sacralize
Thai’s kingship. These archival fictions fracture and deform the mysterious historical truth while replacing it with its new distorted and curated version. The collage work examines and questions the definitions of written ‘history’ which has formed and shaped our identities and senses of longing and belonging. As documentations of history have been manipulated,
our identities and senses of selves have been altered, controlled and oppressed while living within this immersive theatre of political lies.
Kamonlak’s artistic argument in ‘Blue Fantasy’ is similar to Greek philosopher Plato’s
‘The Allegory of the Cave’ that describes how the projected shadows showcased within
the cave became the prisoners’ reality without realizing the accurate representations of
the real world. The prisoners are only governed, ruled and controlled with fantasy narratives of the ‘puppet shows’ given to them by the oppressors. ‘Blue Fantasy’ is Kamonlak’s crafted trojan horse brought within such a cave towards social justice and equality through unveiling and anatomizing the fanciful stories and supernatural narratives that magically sparkles and highlights the political power and significant meanings towards the Thai’s constitutional history.
In ‘Blue Fantasy’, Kamonlak has shifted such power to the governed to re-write and re-create their own history in order to define their meanings of life and establish their personal senses of selves. By doing so, she has become the ‘history portrayer’ by composing her own narration where the key historical characters’ roles have been eclipsed and replaced with the anonymous faces of her own family members. Through generating new history of her own,
the colleges are combined with a mixture of her family background and fanciful local folk tales, literatures, family members’ dreams, as well as old stories behind the household precious objects to dramatically emphasize and appraise the new narrated value of her family; to signify the significance of the insignificance.
Her artistic research, development and performative creation at her home in Ratchaburi where all family members are involved seek to ask an important question; how shall the oppressed prisoners in Plato’s cave break free from their given history and conducted reality through imagining, visualizing and fantasizing their interpretations and alternative visions of the truth(s) while becoming the masters of their own individual stories?
About Artist
Kamonlak Sukchai (b.1994 in Ratchaburi, Thailand)
Kamonlak Sukchai is a Thai photographer who is known for her collage works. Amongst one of her most notable works is the RED LOTUS which exposes folklores through the photographic medium and reflects their influences on feminism. The RED LOTUS helped her to be selected as 1 of the 20 photographers for FOAM Talent in 2020 and was exhibited at
the Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam at KühlhausBerlin and photo festivals in Germany, France, Singapore and Taiwan.
Kamonlak’s works frequently explore Southeast Asian folklores and their influences on history, national identity, religious belief and sexual mythology. Since her early works, she likes
to experiment with the collage technique to find new possibilities especially on how it can encourage the audience to go back and reinterpret old beliefs from a new perspective.
About the Curator
Sirima Chaipreechawit (b.1988)
A Bangkok-born Creative Director and Curator, Sirima Chaipreechavit (b.1988) immersed
her life in art because she has a clear goal of using the power of art to push society forward.
As someone who is passionate in black and white photography, Sirima started out as
a member of Street Photography Thailand and her works have been exhibited both locally
and abroad. She is certainly no stranger to the Thai art scene as she later became a creative manager, gallery director and editor for The Jam Factory.
Currently she is a co-founder of GroundControl, a media and art agency which presents art movements and supports the art creation of Thai artists, and HOP – Hup Of Photography,
a photographic gallery and art space. Furthermore, she is also an exhibition organiser and independent curator with a multitude of exhibitions under her name.
presented by
HOP – Hub of Photography
Special Thanks
Seacon Square Srinakarin
PR Material Cloud
Exhibition Poster และสื่อโปรโมท
สามารถดาวน์โหลดโปสเตอร์นิทรรศการและสื่อโปรโมทได้ที่ลิงก์ข้างล่างนี้
Download Link : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_8TOJw0Nh-LJZVHrOFx9jo5NINiumwQg?usp=sharing
(สำหรับสื่อเท่านั้น กรุณาอย่าเผยแพร่ Link นี้บนสื่อสาธารณะ)
PR Contact Info
Email : hop.project.th@gmail.com
Please kindly contact us for further interviews.
