The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition catalogue (APT2)

A multimedia artist, Chatchai Puipia works extensively in painting, sculpture, assemblages and installations. His early work is abstract and highly expressive in style, its subject matter focusing on ritualism. Since 1990, the artist's work has tackled issues such as the role of art as a commodity, the relationship of humans with the environment, the relationship between Thai people and the society they live in, and consumerism and politics. During this period Chatchai Puipia moved away from abstract painting to representational art, using a combination of ready-made and found– objects to express his thoughts and feelings about life and human behaviour in Thai society today. Since 1993, Chatchai Puipia has been recognised as one of Thailand's most socially critical artists. His work is highly provocative, but not emotionally aggressive. It involves deep thinking and self– examination. The 1995 series 'Siamese smile' is the artist's interpretation of greed, consumerism and human behaviour. According to Chatchai Puipia, his work deals with injustice and social problems. In particular, he comments sarcastically on how people in the art world behave. For him the Siamese smile is an ancient kind of smile from the mai pen rai (never mind, it's OK) tradition. Its origin is not known, but it can be found running around the country, especially at social events such as art exhibition openings. It is a smile without meaning, an ugly and deceptive smile that ignores the poor, the rich and the ruined environment. The Siamese smile has a quality of flexibility. It is a way to fight and to win but is not aggressive.The paintings in this series are replicas of Siamese smiles. (Actually, in Thai society the smile brings people together and is a wonderful way to release tensions and stress.) The 'Siamese smile' series comprises large-scale self-portraits of the artist in different guises. Each portrait fills the entire canvas and is executed in a realistic manner. Most of the portraits look grotesque and full of humour. Chatchai Puipia explains that he prefers to use his own face to express himself more freely. His facial expressions in the paintings Siamese smile: Siamese intellectual 1995, Siamese smile: May I come in? 1995 and Siamese smile: Morning evening lovesong 1995 effectively reflect his way of thinking. Self-portraits are also used as a symbol of artists who have always created problems for themselves. He would like the problems to be expressed through self– portraits and to be shared with others. Confronting the artist's self-portraits may cause the audience tension and prompt them to reflect on themselves. In Siamese smile: Siamese intellectual 1995, the artist uses the self-portrait and lotus flowers to symbolise wisdom. He remarks that Thais always Siamese smile: May I come in? 1995 Oil,pastel and synthetic polymer paint on canvas 220x200cm Collection:The artist walk behind the wisdom of other countries. The lotus flower represents Buddhism. According to Chatchai, 'Thailand is a Buddhist country where people are not supposed to exploit each other but when you look around, all you see is greed and consumerist values everywhere'. Siamese smile: Morning evening ICNesong 1995 raises a crucial question regarding the national intellect. In the work the artist depicts himself singing the national anthem. Lines of musical notes appear at the top of the painting. Chatchai Puipia is expressing his opinion that the wisdom of the nation does not solely comprise singing and listening to the national anthem every morning and evening ChatchaiPUIPIA Lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand with the belief in nationalism.This oil painting is a strongly satirical comment on nationalism. Siamese smile: May I come in? 1995 focuses on art society, particularly underdeveloped countries who try to beg their way into the international art level of developed countries. In other words, artists have been trying to push themselves to get accepted. It is worth noting that Chatchai Puipia always raises questions in his work. Whether or not he expects the answers is unclear, but nevertheless the viewers could answer the questions themselves. Somporn Rodboon,Associate Professor, Silpakorn University, Bangkok,Thailand ART I s T s: s O u TH AND s O u TH- EA s T A s I A I 93