Exhibitions

‘Transcendence: Body as Landscape’ by Chatmongkol Insawang – Richard Koh Fine Art

Richard Koh Fine Art Bangkok (RKFA)

Apr 22 - May 27, 2023

^{Transforming body No.1, 2023, Charcoal with linseed oil on acrylic plate, 60 x 80 cm (work), 70 x 90 cm (framed)
All images by courtesy of Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA)}

Thai artist Chatmongkol Insawang's latest solo exhibition, "Transcendence: Body as Landscape", curated by Nim Niyomsin, will be showcased. The exhibition will run from 22nd April 2023 to 27th May 2023 and delves into the human body as a subject of artistic inspiration, exploring its outer appearance, anatomy and cultural connotations.

Insawang's personal experience with sickness and death within his family motivated him to seek truth through the philosophy of life and nature, and this is reflected in his art. He negotiates between 2D and 3D mediums to represent the body's deterioration through its visual form. The works on display include sculptures, works on canvas and acrylic plate and are both twisted and distorted, aiming to understate the body's being and present it as anonymous and uncharacteristic.

Like other artists who have explored the representation of the body in art, such as classical Greek sculptures, Titian's paintings of female nudes, and Yoko Ono's participatory work, Insawang's unique take on the subject of the body and its metaphors and symbolism implies a complex meaning that extends beyond flesh and blood.

About the Artist

Chatmongkol Insawang (b.1980, Suphanburi, Thailand) graduated from the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University, with a Bachelor’s degree with 2nd Class Honors (2003), a Master’s Degree (2009), and a Doctor of Philosophy (Visual Art) (2019). He received an Italian government scholarship to study in Italy and received a Diploma in Sculpture (Hons) from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze in 2008. While working and exhibiting his work, he teaches at the Department of Fine Art, Poh-Chang Academy of Arts, and was Head of the sculpture program from 2014-2017.

Insawang started his higher education in sculpture with a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s degree. He has always been interested in human nature. His works during this period revealed the darker side of humans, from desire to greed, hatred, and envy, through works of art. Nonetheless, toward the end of his Master’s, the illnesses of his mother and later himself changed his focus to other human aspects.

He started to search for the meaning of our existence and to observe our body and its connection and place in the natural world. His works began focusing on the body as a source of suffering, an organic shell covering the self. The act of breathing and the air flowing through this shell connects the body to its environment and helps prolong the decay. This development became clear during his Doctoral study from the subject matters, visuals, forms, and technique. As a result, his sculptures show fewer characteristics and individuality. He has also started working more on 2D surfaces. He is now known as a sculptor who creates sculptures and line drawings that seek the meaning of life, the inner and outer space, and the transformations of the body.

Insawang has won numerous awards, including the Bronze Medal (sculpture), the 64th National EXhibition of Art (2019), and the Silver Medal (sculpture), the 49th National EXhibition of Art (2003). His exhibitions include Time-Lapse: Reflecting on Thai Art, 333 Gallery in collaboration with Thai Art Collector Association, Bangkok (2021), Area 5+1 : PRECIOUS SPACE, the National Gallery, Bangkok (2020), Art Relation, Andaman Art Museum, Krabi (2015), Young Blood Sculpture,
PSG Gallery, Bangkok (2011) and Opera Muta, DEA Gallery, Florence, Italy (2008). His works are also part of public and private collections, including the Bangkok Sculpture Center, Krung Thai Bank, Sermkhun Kunawong Museum House, Bangkok, Silpakorn University, and Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology: VISTEC, Rayong.

He currently lives and works in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.