Press Release: Transcendence: Body as Landscape, A solo exhibition by Chatmongkol Insawang at Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) Bangkok

Press Release

Richard Koh Fine Art

Peterson Building, 712/1, 9th Floor,

Sukhumvit Rd, Khlong Tan, Khlong Toei,

Bangkok 10110, www.rkfineart.com

Transcendence: Body as Landscape

A solo exhibition by Chatmongkol Insawang Curated by Nim Niyomsin

22 April – 27 May 2023

Thai artist Chatmongkol Insawang’s latest solo exhibition, “Transcendence: Body as Landscape“, curated by Nim Niyomsin, will be showcased at Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) Bangkok’s gallery located in Peterson Building, 712/1, 9th Floor, Sukhumvit Rd, Khlong Tan, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. The exhibition will run from 22nd April 2023 to 27th May 2023 and delves into the human body as a subject of artistic inspiration, exploring its outer appearance, anatomy and cultural connotations.

Insawang’s personal experience with sickness and death within his family motivated him to seek truth through the philosophy of life and nature, and this is reflected in his art. He negotiates between 2D and 3D mediums to represent the body’s deterioration through its visual form. The works on display include sculptures, works on canvas and

acrylic plate and are both twisted and distorted, aiming to understate the body’s being and present it as anonymous and uncharacteristic.

Like other artists who have explored the representation of the body in art, such as classical Greek sculptures, Titian’s paintings of female nudes, and Yoko Ono’s participatory work, Insawang’s unique take on the subject of the body and its metaphors and symbolism implies a complex meaning that extends beyond flesh and blood.

Transcendence: Body as Landscape” derives from Chatmongkol Insawang’s latest development. The intensity in his work and his mind seems to have reached a threshold, and the artist has started to release the weight and tension of his fixation on the concept of the human body. In this series, Insawang appears to let go of the matter, the self. Bodies have become part of nature. In some works, the bodies look as if they are parts of a rock formation. In others, the artist allows those bodies to dissolve into the surroundings, a landscape with no boundaries. Don’t miss out on this thought-provoking exhibition that will be on display at RKFA Bangkok.

Artist Biography

Chatmongkol Insawang (b.1980, Suphanburi, Thailand) graduated from the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University, with a Bachelor’s degree with 2nd Class Honors (2003), a Master’s Degree (2009), and a Doctor of Philosophy (Visual Art) (2019). He received an Italian government scholarship to study in Italy and received a Diploma in Sculpture (Hons) from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze in 2008. While working and exhibiting his work, he teaches at the Department of Fine Art, Poh-Chang Academy of Arts, and was Head of the sculpture program from 2014-2017.

Insawang started his higher education in sculpture with a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s degree. He has always been interested in human nature. His works during this period revealed the darker side of humans, from desire to greed, hatred, and envy, through works of art. Nonetheless, toward the end of his Master’s, the illnesses of his mother and later himself changed his focus to other human aspects.

He started to search for the meaning of our existence and to observe our body and its connection and place in the natural world. His works began focusing on the body as a source of suffering, an organic shell covering the self. The act of breathing and the air flowing through this shell connects the body to its environment and helps prolong the decay. This development became clear during his Doctoral study from the subject matters, visuals, forms, and technique. As a result, his sculptures show fewer characteristics and individuality. He has also started working more on 2D surfaces. He is now known as a sculptor who creates sculptures and line drawings that seek the meaning of life, the inner and outer space, and the transformations of the body.

Insawang has won numerous awards, including the Bronze Medal (sculpture), the 64th National Exhibition of Art (2019), and the Silver Medal (sculpture), the 49th National Exhibition of Art (2003). His exhibitions include Time-Lapse: Reflecting on Thai Art, 333 Gallery in collaboration with Thai Art Collector Association, Bangkok (2021), Area 5+1 : PRECIOUS SPACE, the National Gallery, Bangkok (2020), Art Relation, Andaman Art Museum, Krabi (2015), Young Blood Sculpture,

PSG Gallery, Bangkok (2011) and Opera Muta, DEA Gallery, Florence, Italy (2008). His works are also part of public and private collections, including the Bangkok Sculpture Center, Krung Thai Bank, Sermkhun Kunawong Museum House, Bangkok, Silpakorn University, and Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology: VISTEC, Rayong.

He currently lives and works in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Curator Biography

Photo credited to MOCA Bangkok

Nim Niyomsin (b.1980, Thailand) is an independent curator currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. She received a Master of History of Art from Birkbeck, University of London (2009), and a Master of Business Administration, Southeastern Louisiana University (2003). She also enrolled in curatorial and art courses at the Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Niyomsin specialises in contemporary art, photography, and public art events.

Prior to working independently, she worked in galleries in Bangkok, the Artist Pension Trust, and Horniman Museum and Gardens in London. She curated her first shows of Thai artists in several art spaces in London.

Moving to Bangkok, from 2014-2017, she worked as the Marketing Department Manager for international art and culture at the Emporium & EmQuartier, organising public and international art festivals and other cultural events. She then decided to focus on art and curating and became a full-time independent curator.

Seeing the underlying division in the local art scene, her challenge lies in curating the shows of artists who may not usually work together. This also includes a collaboration with others from non-art sectors. Another aim is to encourage artists’ careers and curate shows of talented and underrepresented artists.

Niyomsin has been working as a curator for many art institutions and international organisations, including of Museum of Contemporary Art Bangkok, Ratchadamnoen Contemporary Art Center (Bangkok), Tang Contemporary, PhotoBangkok, HOP – Hub of Photography (Bangkok), 1PROJECTS (Bangkok, Singapore), 333Anywhere (Bangkok), Subhashok The Arts Centre (Bangkok), Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film (Singapore) and Forty7 Gallery (London). She has written for magazines such as Fineart Magazine (Thailand), Why Magazine (England), and the Bangkok Trader.

Richard Koh Fine Art Bangkok

RKFA Bangkok transits from pop-up traveling art space to something more permanent, envisioning its new gallery space would continue the push for Southeast Asian contemporary art to reach different art platforms across the region and beyond. Based on its core belief in developing an artist’s career, the gallery aims to find up-and-coming yet understated practices and present them with opportunities to grow and thrive within the industry. With a regular rotation of exhibitions, print and digital publications, and collaborations with other galleries, Richard Koh Fine Art Bangkok engages the art community with the intention to develop dialogue across the different cultures in the region.

Press Contact

TQPR Thailand

Nuie Titichayapon, nuie@tqpr.com

Chatmongkol Insawang Transforming body No.1 2023

Charcoal with linseed oil on acrylic plate 60 x 80 cm (work); 70 x 90 cm (framed)

Chatmongkol Insawang Transforming body No.2 2023

Charcoal with linseed oil on acrylic plate 60 x 80 cm (work); 70 x 90 cm (framed)

Chatmongkol Insawang

Bodies in motion

2022

Charcoal with linseed oil on acrylic plate 60 x 80 cm (work); 70 x 90 cm (framed)

Chatmongkol Insawang

Condition No.3

2022

Charcoal with linseed oil on acrylic plate 60 x 80 cm (work); 70 x 90 cm (framed)

Chatmongkol Insawang Figure of breath No.1 2023

Bronze

36 x 25 x 32 cm

Chatmongkol Insawang Figure of breath No.2 2023

Bronze

54 x 32 x 31 cm

Chatmongkol Insawang Existence of the bodies and breath 2023

Charcoal on canvas

190 x 160 cm (work); 196 x 166 cm (framed)

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