ARTISTS
Ahla Thit Art Gallery
May 23 - May 27, 2019
Written by Yuki Kitazumi
A solo exhibition by veteran painter Maung Di was held at Yangon's long-established gallery, Ahla Thit Art Gallery, from 23rd to 27th May 2019. About 20 paintings with owl motifs were on display, titled 'Eyes of Inner Mind Series'.
Exhibited pieces were those which capture the owls from the front and give a sharp emphasis on their eyes. Although the design is almost the same, there were about 20 works with different colors for the eyes and background. According to Maung Di, owls are considered lucky birds as they are a symbol of wisdom in Myanmar. He said “Owls can even see at night, which means they can see something 'invisible'.”
One of Maung Di's themes is 'seeing something invisible'. This is based on the Buddhist worldview of Maung Di, who left home to become a priest in his childhood and lived in a monastery. What is visible is only a part of the essence, and the truth exists in the invisible part. He says that he adopted the owl as an existence which looks at the invisible aspect.
He depicts large eyes on a simple rounded square body and emphasizes them with white outlines. The black-eyeball part is depicted by a regular circle, giving the viewer a feeling of the void and pressure. Although they are of comical design with bright colors, they seem to be convincing and powerful.
Almost 80 years old, Maung Di, is one of Myanmar's art masters. In addition to painting, he is active in many fields such as creating objects and poetry. However, even after becoming famous, he hates the price of his work rising and becoming unavailable to common people. The reason why he painted 20 compositions of the same owl is because he wanted many people to obtain them. It is said that he referred to an example of a well-known illustrator in the U.S. who sold his printed, cheap works to prevent the price of his works from skyrocketing.
Maung Di often delivers eye-themed works. There are also many works about certain contradictions in society. The balancing of scale-themed objects appeals to the justice of society. It is highly close to the artist's own thoughts that give a strict eye to society while approaching people's inner self. I believe he will continue to create works that impose severe pressure on humans and society.
Maung Di
Born in 1941 in a rural village in the Magway region of British Burma. While focusing on paintings, he also handles installations, objects, poems, short stories, and more. He is known for his style that combines the idea of looking at the interior of a Buddhist human being, and criticism of modern society.
Ahla Thit Art Gallery
An old gallery remodeled from a colonial style house. It holds many solo exhibitions of contemporary art and so on.
