Exhibition Venue: Ground Floor Gallery, Ayala Museum, Metro Manila, Philippines
Press Preview: 17 February 2017, Time: 9AM – 6PM; 18 February 2017, Time: 9AM-6PM
Ayala Museum, Metro Manila, Philippines and Singapore-based gallery Richard Koh Fine Art, with the support of the Royal Thai Embassy in Manila, will be co-presenting the exhibition of contemporary Thai painter, Natee Utarit.
Entitled Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces, the exhibition will run from 18 February to 9 April 2017 and is part of the artist's Optimism is Ridiculous series, which began in 2012 and has been featured in various galleries in Asia.
The Altarpieces is Utarit's critique of Western modernism. It is a satire of modernism and capitalism, and tells of its seduction of local customs and traditions. Consisting of a total of 12 works, these works are composed of multiple panels forming a diptych, triptych, or polyptych, following the tradition of classical religious paintings with elaborate frames and settings.
Utarit's interest in Western religious painting stems from his appropriative approach to classical art. "In my paintings here I offer an interpretation of the world and various beliefs that appear in the Western world from my own Asian perspective," he says.
Optimism Is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces is a traveling exhibition with Ayala Museum in Makati City, Philippines as its first stop. It is scheduled to coincide with the 2017 Art Fair Philippines.
After its Manila run, the exhibition is scheduled to head on to Indonesia and Singapore.