“Deja vu: The Last Chapter (Part 3 )”, by Thai Artist Natee Utarit
22 June – 06 July 2024
Richard Koh Fine Art Bangkok (Peterson Building, 9th Floor)
Opening Reception: 22 June (Saturday), 1 pm – 4 pm
Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) Bangkok is delighted to present “Déjà vu: The Last Chapter (Part 3)”, the final installment in a compelling three-part series by renowned Thai artist Natee Utarit. This exhibition will be on display from 22 June to 6 July 2024 at RKFA Bangkok.
“Déjà vu: The Last Chapter” highlights Natee Utarit’s multidisciplinary approach, encompassing painting, sculpture, embroidery, stained glass, and woodcut. Each medium revisits pivotal moments that have influenced Western art forms, inviting viewers to reconsider established narratives of cultural and historical development. The series unfolds over three sequential parts from April to June, allowing audiences to engage deeply with Utarit’s exploration of cultural dialogues and historical reinterpretations.
Déjà vu, referring to the phenomenon of ‘recalling scenes and events as if they have happened before’, elucidates how Utarit’s mind operates by interweaving re-envisionings of the past and present. Initially conceived in 2019, the Déjà vu series begins with Buddha’s hypothetical journey to the West to encounter Greco-Roman culture and other Eastern and Western symbols depicted across the three-part exhibition series.
Driven by a search for identity and an examination of his own colonial conditioning still present in Thailand, Utarit embarks on a reflective analysis of his culture. This journey allows him to engage in colonial discourse through Buddhism, Asia’s spiritual and cultural node. In this self-identification process, the mediums and compositions of his work play a crucial role. Each medium, from painting and sculpture to embroidery, stained glass, and woodcut, corresponds to historical moments that have shaped Western canons.
Part 3, “Déjà vu: The Last Chapter (Part 3)”, focuses on Utarit’s paintings. The featured works challenge historical and cultural improbabilities, sowing the seeds of possibility: What if the sun rose in the West? What if the East, embodied by the figure of the Buddha, met the West? Through these thought-provoking scenarios, the commonalities between different cultures emerge, woven into a new Western/Eastern narrative by the artist’s hand.
NATEE UTARIT (b. 1970, Bangkok) studied at the College of Fine Art in 1987 and graduated in Graphic Arts at the Painting and Sculpture Faculty at Silpakorn University, both in Bangkok, Thailand in 1991. Solo exhibitions include Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces, The Private Museum, Singapore (2018), Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia (2017), Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces, Ayala Museum, Manila, the Philippines (2017), Illustration of the Crisis, Bangkok University Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand (2013), After Painting, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2010) and The Amusement of Dreams, Hope and Perfection, Art Center of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (2007). Recent group exhibitions include Beyond Bliss, Bangkok Art Biennale 2018, Bangkok, Thailand (2018), Contemporary Chaos, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2018), Thai Eye, BACC, Bangkok, Thailand and Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2016/2015), Art of ASEAN, Bank Negara Museum and Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2015), Time of Others, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (2015) and Asian Art Biennale 2013: Everyday Life, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan (2013).
His work is part of many renowned collections, such as the Bangkok University, Bangkok, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, as well as private collections in Europe and Asia.
Utarit’s multifaceted practice focuses on the exploration of the medium of painting connecting it with photography and classical Western art. Light and perspective are some of the elements the artist chose to work with, focusing on painting as a means to explore image making. His complex pictures, juggling wide-ranging metaphors usually in the format of the traditional still life, allude to Thailand’s current social and political landscapes.
For further information about the exhibition, please do not hesitate to contact info@rkfineart.com
All images are subjected to copyright.
For more information, please contact:
TQPR Thailand
Tom Van Blarcom or Nuie Titichayapon
Tel: 0 2260 5820 Email: tom@tqpr.com | nuie@tqpr.com