The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

Buddha returns to Bangkok '92 1992 Oil on canvas 400x200cm Collection: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok THAILAND VASAN SITTHIKET Resurrection 1992 Oil on canvas 400x200cm Collection: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok Vasan Sitthiket was born in 1957 in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. He trained at the College of Fine Art, Bangkok and currently operates as an independent artist. Among the many solo exhibitionsVasan Sitthiket has staged since 197 7 are 'Time: Fate of the Urbanite', Ruang Pung Art CommunityCentre, Bangkok, 1984; 'Erotika', Pattani University, 1987; 'Alienation & Melancholy', British Council, Bangkok and Nagoya, Japan, 1989; 'Beauty Nightmare', Alliance Franr;aise, Bangkok, 1990; and 'Inferno', The National Gallery, Bangkok, 1991. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions, performances and poetry read­ ings in Thailand. In 1990 he was included in 'Asian Works', Anri Gallery, Nagoya, Japan and the 'Voices of Souls' event at Hirakata City Public Hall, Hirakata, Japan. Vasan Sitthiket was a par ticipant in 'Boundary 52 Rider', 9thBiennale of Sydney, 1992. His work has been collected inBangkok by the Ruang Pung Art CommunityCentre,Visual Dhamma Gallery and Chulalongkorn University. He has never submitted work to art contests. Vasan Sitthiket is one of the leadingThai artists who creates political debate through his work. As a poet-painter, he is concerned with great issues of our day-poverty, social conflicts, alienation, the decay of cities, and the destruction of the natural environment. Angst-filled images in his series 'Fate of the urbanite', 'Erotika', 'Alienation & melan­ choly' and 'Beauty nightmare' are intended to shock. The reaction of disgust and uneasy identification aim to jolt viewers who are accustomed to consuming easy-listening and easy-looking art. The artist has long admired paintings and prints by the German expressionists but hehas interpreted themas counter visions to serve his own politically conscious art. By developing the coarse and raw techniqueof execution, he has used it as a vehicle to redefine his reading of Traiphum, the stories of the Three Worlds. 'Inferno', a solo show at the National Gallery, Bangkok in 1991, consisted of sixty large paintings depicting scenes of tumult, destruction and apocalypse as livinghell on earth especially inThailand. Following the May massacre in 1992, Vasan Sitthiket executed large paintings as a remembrance of the destruction in Bangkok. Buddha returns to Bangkok '92 shows the Lord Buddha witnessing ruin and degradation in the Land of the Smiles. Accompanying scenes surrounding the yellow and gold Buddha record glimpses of a deteriorating mega-city. A green three-headed monitor lizard symbolising persons who bring bad luck has the faces of Generals Suchinda Kraprayoon, lssarapong Noonpakdee and Kaset Rojananin. Dem­ onstrators demand the resignation of the Prime Minister. In Resurrection, Jesus does acrobatics as he performs an agile feat by smashing various international banks with the cross. As chaos and apocalypse replace order and peace, mankind, symbolised by white, yellow, black , and red men, awaits the day of judgment. Apinan Poshyananda