{{sindex}}/{{bigImglist.length}}

Installation views | Group exhibition "En route: Southeast Asia"

{{newsData.publisher_name}} {{newsData.update_time}} 浏览：{{newsData.view_count}}

来源 | {{newsData.source}} 作者 | {{newsData.author}}

Installation views | Group exhibition En route: Southeast Asia 崇真艺客

Installation views: "En route: Southeast Asia", 2024, Ota Fine Arts Shanghai, Photography: Zhang Hong

En route: Southeast Asia

Artists: Atreyu Moniaga, Guo-Liang Tan, Santi Wangchuan, Sawangwongse Yawnghwe, Soe Yu Nwe, Zai Kuning

27 July ― 31 August 2024

Ota FineArts Shanghai is pleased to present En route: Southeast Asia, anexhibition featuring artists from Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.The exhibition hopes to provide a window into contemporary art from SoutheastAsia, where ideas of mythology, cultural traditions, heritage, identity, andhistory are actively interrogated.

SawangwongseYawnghwe (b.1971, Burma) was born in Shan State, known today asMyanmar. His grandfather, Sao Shwe Thaik, was the first president of the Unionof Burma. Yawnghwe spent much of his youth in Thailand, and subsequentlyescaped to Canada, after a failed assassination attempt on his father in 1985.Thereafter, Yawnghwe found refuge in Amsterdam, where he works quietly in muchanonymity. The paintings "Day trip at Southeast Asian Peninsular Games,Rangoon, 1961" and "The Guests" reveal simultaneously, Yawnghwe'spersonal family history and the complex issues surrounding Myanmar's unsettlingpolitical history. In contrast, Atreyu Moniaga's (b. 1987, Indonesia) paintings embody the fantasies ofurban dwellers from a younger generation. Moniaga graduated with a degree inCommunications and Visual Design from the Jakarta Institute of the Arts (IKJ),and now takes on multiple roles as artist, photographer, illustrator and actor.His otherworldly compositions reveal a whimsical universe of mysticalcreatures, ornamental plants, and spirited characters that one may associatewith animation films.

SantiWangchuan (b. 1988, Thailand) recalls and revitalizes the handweavingtraditions of the Ubon Ratchathani province located in Northeast Thailand. Wangchuan learned how to weave from his grandmother and mother at a young age,and after studying art history, he sought to re-engage the traditional craftthat is gradually disappearing with rapid urbanisation. His works areinterwoven with collective memories, folk stories, religious practices andobjects that are native to his hometown. On the otherhand, Guo-Liang Tan (b.1980, Singapore) utilizes aeronautical fabric – atranslucent, water-resistant syntheticpolyester textile – in his work. "Slow Release II" and "Sand Drift" were created by layering transparent colours of diluted acrylic paint atop thewater-resistant surface. Unlike conventional painting, which uses a brush fordirect mark-making, Tan's work comprises stains and traces made indirectly bythe pooling of paint and by placing objects on the horizontal ground to createimprints.

Usingceramics as a key medium, Soe Yu Nwe (b. 1989, Myanmar) explores thecycles in mother nature and, Myanmar's heritage and spiritual traditions. Aprimary and recurring motif in Soe's work is the serpent. This interestoriginates from her explorations for a self-symbol, and the serpent being herChinese Zodiac sign. In much of Asian mythology, the serpent is associated withregeneration, shape shifting, fertility and feminine prowess. Yet Soe'ssculptures also reveal creatures plagued with fragmented edges, thorns and acertain fragility, offering us some visibility into Soe's experience growing upin a conservative society, and her longing for wholeness in her multiculturaland incomplete identity formation.

Fornearly two decades, Zai Kuning (b. 1964, Singapore) has been workingwith indigenous groups of people, namely the Orang Laut and Orang Asli, and hascreated bodies of works inspired by his research and interactions with them.Zai's earlier drawings, especially those from the "Ombak Hitam" series(2016), were characterized by their monochromatic tones. Since 2020, hisdrawings began to incorporate hues of red, green, and yellow, with greatervibrancy and depths. The works in this exhibition were created with naturalpigments including turmeric, chilli powder, and traditional batik dye, andZai's abstract forms resonate and echo with voices, memories, and a yearningfor one's ancestral home.

TheseSoutheast Asian countries — from which these artists are from — are diverse, yetbounded togethergeographically and historically. Some of these areas are developed andcosmopolitan, while others are more in sync with their ancestral heritage andcultures. Ota Fine Arts Shanghai hopes to offer visibility of the region'sartists to our audiences, and to articulate some of the differentiated storiesof Southeast Asia.

Installation views | Group exhibition En route: Southeast Asia 崇真艺客