RECKLESS

A solo exhibition by Tawan Wattuya
Curator: Myrtille Tibayrenc

Toot Yung Art Center Mae Rim
30 June – 22 September 2018

Exhibition and grand opening of the Toot Yung Art Center : June 30 2018 from 5pm (Press can book interview slots between 2pm and 5pm - with the artist, the curator and owner of the Toot Yung Art Center) Tawan Wattuya’s acute perceptiveness of global contemporary societies, infuse his work with a latent brutality exquisitely balanced with his masterful watercolor technique on soft bamboo paper. Carefully selected paintings on paper produced over the past 5 years, have been put together to display the artist’s vision of a world loosing track of its ethics, morality and aspirations. Women are presented as being sold in a meat market, cars are wrecked, we see menu-like paintings of guns and bombs, underlined with dark humor to express the artist’s views of a decaying society; The composition of floating objects, animals and people placed in rows, evoke a sense of primitive social order; It points out an obligation to adapt to certain criteria, dictated by oppressive governments and a globalized social order. Tawan Wattuya (b.1974) is best known for his distinctive approach to watercolor and thought-provoking subjects. His choice of medium is a clear attempt to convey the speed and dynamism he perceives in contemporary Thai society. He consciously chooses to view his homeland from a distance, studying the social and political situation from afar in order to explore with depth and understand both his hometown and the different places he encounters. Whether portraying the glittering terra cotta warriors of China or making sketches of the old fishermen he met in Okinawa, it is clear that Wattuya’s paintings are always poetic, personal, but nevertheless provocative in terms of his critical engagement with current issues. He is considered today one of Thailand's most unique and engaged painters. His works have been exhibited extensively in Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Paris, New York Etc.