UDOMSAK KRISANAMIS
Artist(s)
Udomsak Krisanamis
Curator
Chomwan Weeraworawit
copied
All is pretty.
- Andy Warhol, 1968
Reminded of this quote by Warhol, Udomsak Krisanamis was drawn to its simple truth. ‘All is pretty’ means that everything, as ordinary or unloved as it may be, has inherent beauty. For over three decades, Krisanamis has taken the most ordinary, unloved objects and surfaces and made them ”prettier”. That all things have the capacity to be pretty suggests there is nothing that cannot become an artist’s canvas: there is nothing so ordinary that it cannot be art.
Informed by the history of painting and modern art, ALL IS PRETTIER. immerses us in a world created by Krisanamis that is both about painting and person: an artist and an artform inextricably entwined in a life lived within and beyond the art world. The six-month-long presentation will include new paintings that reference the artist’s earlier works, as well as those that pay homage to the great painters of the previous century. The expansive oeuvre of colours and layers, along with the artist’s interrogation and form, ask us to question what painting truly is and what role the artist performs.
Beyond the paintings, ALL IS PRETTIER. will be an invitation to paint, to create music, to play games, to have conversations, to make and collaborate. To Krisanamis, the life of an artist is as much about art as it is about music, golf, ping pong, friends, fashion, or simply seeking joy in existence as if it were the end of the world. The zeroes and circles found within the layers of his paintings, often seen as voids or acts of erasure by Krisanamis, can also be invitations to enter, fill in the blanks and, ultimately, bring everything together.
Over six months, Krisanamis will transform 100 Tonson Foundation into a factory inspired by Warhol’s own such space: a place for imagination, experimentation, and boundless creation for both the artist and his community. Krisanamis’ rendition of the Factory will pay homage to Warhol’s: a living space that morphs into various incarnations throughout its three-phase evolutionary existence. The room will become the artist’s studio, where the public is invited to observe, listen, or read, and ultimately serve as a factory for making memories. After all, everything is prettier when it has the care and attention of a community.
ALL IS PRETTIER. by Udomsak Krisanamis is curated by Chomwan Weeraworawit.
PART I: SPEED
22.06.2023 - 19.08.2023
PART II: ARRIVAL
24.08.2023 - 01.10.2023
PART III: STRIKE
05.10.2023 - 19.11.2023
About the artist
Udomsak Krisanamis
Born 1966, Bangkok Thailand.
Lives in Chiang mai
Udomsak Krisanamis has been a prominent figure in the Thai and international contemporary art scene for over three decades. After completing a Bachelor of Education program in Art education at Chulalongkorn University, Krisanamis enrolled at Pratt University in Brooklyn, New York before completing his MFA in Painting at The School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago. Krisanamis returned to New York to found a practice that championed objet trouvés, creating a distinct collage technique using materials as diverse as newsprint and noodles, and painting on surfaces that were not the typical artist’s canvas. Krisanamis’ earlier works comprise of densely-layered grids and experimentation with texture, depicting what could be abstract cityscapes, starscapes, and even digital-scapes; whereas, his more recent works express bold and conceptual statements, expanding to include bright monochrome colours with striking patterns, while continuing to incorporate unconventional “found objects” such as straw and yoga mats, egg cartons and paper packaging, and ping pong tables into immersive installations. This incorporation of daily life, one could even say celebration of everyday objects and rituals, into his multi-disciplinary practice defines both an aesthetic and a narrative that is intrinsically personal and uniquely his own.
Selected solo exhibitions include a retrospective Re-Presentation: Redux (Bangkok University Gallery, 2019); Retrospective curated by Rirkrit Tiravanija (CMU Art Center, Chiangmai, 2016); Planet Caravan (Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong, 2014); Udomsak Krisanamis (Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, NY, 2012); a mindful mission (Galeria Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin, and Kunstverein Freiberg, 2011); and Udomsak Krisanamis (Kunsthalle Basel, 2003). His works have been included in group exhibitions including SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2017); Art and Music-Search for New Synesthesia (Museum Of Tokyo, 2012); Dereconstruction (Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY 2006); Bidibidobidiboo, curated by Francesco Bonami (Colllezione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, 2005); Greater New York (P.S.1, Long Island City, NY 2000); Examining Pictures (Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1999); 11th Sydney Biennale (1998); and Project 63 (Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1998). His works are found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Albright Knox Art Gallery, New York; Cartier Foundation, Paris; and Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy, among others.
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