After going through Trans-Cool Tokyo exhibits at SAM @ 8Q, I went to another part of the museum to see Natee Utarit’s art pieces.
Natee Utarit is an artist living in Thailand. One reason why I like his works especially it is because it is photo realistic, or maybe like how Frieze magazine puts it as ‘quasi-photorealistic’. In the museum, certain art pieces are considered as narrative paintings, which means that paintings that contain allegorical meaning. I’m amazed with the details he puts in and how he inserts thing to symbolised his country’s monarchy and politics. For me, I don’t know much about Thailand’s monarchy and politics thus not understand how he uses certain objects and characters to symbolise certain events. I actually have to read through some of the descriptions to understand his intentions.
As we all know, fairy tales tend to take place in a distant time. They have been told for so long that it’s impossible to trace back to their origins. Though their beginnings and endings are often obscure, the elements that are common to these tales are entirely unambiguous… In my country, fairy tales colour almost every aspect of life at every level of the social hierarchy, from the privileged elite to the lowliest villager. They are evident in the country’s political arena as well as personal sphere.
Natee Utarit
Artist statement in Tales of Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, 2009.
Here are some of my personal favourites.
Tragedy
Apparently this painting is based on the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. I’m not too sure what the book is about, but based on what I understand from the wikipedia, Animal Farm reflects the events leading to the Stalin era before World War 2.
I can’t remember the description for this painting but I can say this painting reminds me of the horse installation which I saw in National Museum last year.
Hmm… now I have a question though. What’s with the curtain backdrop at the back?
The Prince
This piece talks about the betrayal. From what I read, the prince is looking at the Thai flag but his legs is facing outwards. I’m not too sure how to link it to Thailand’s politics. Apparently there is a term called ‘lame duck’ which means outgoing politician. I really love those ducks though.
(my camera phone did not manage to capture the painting properly, so I took this from Natee Utarit’s site)
Lotus
I just love how the lotus entwines each other and how it withers away. It look so real that I feel like holding them in my hands to feel the texture of the dying lotus.
Meaning has no meaning
Apparent this is a thai word for ‘good’, correct me if I’m wrong. So he was playing around with that character and meaning of it and whether people will forget the meaning.
But what I like more about this painting was how real it looks. It looks so real that I was fooled for two times thinking that it was a sculpture instead of a painting. His eye on details from shading to the shadows is amazing. Simple piece but impactful.
