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Gallery for Photography 2, rue Jules Cousin 75004 Paris Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 85 81 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 85 80 e-mail : [email protected] M a n i t S r i w a n i c h p o o m e 50 International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2003 Pink Man in Paradise june 14 th G i a r d i n i Contacts Gilou Le Gruiec - [email protected] Marion Gronier - [email protected] Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 85 81 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 85 80 Communication Bernadette Sabathier [email protected] Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 05 11 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 05 00 to - novembre V i a l e 2 nd 2003 G a r i b a l d i Art Direction Christian Caujolle [email protected] Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 85 81 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 85 80 Gallery for Photography 2, rue Jules Cousin 75004 Paris Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 85 81 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 85 80 e-mail : [email protected] Thailand is taking part in the Venice Biennial for the first time, with a collective exhibition of young contemporary artists. The only one using photography is Manit Sriwanichpoom, presented by Galerie VU which displayed three of its series at the “Four from Bangkok” exhibition in 2002. This committed artist is a radical activist who uses photography brilliantly to expose the economic and political situation in his country and who always covers topical subjects, such as the consequences of the stock market crash, which he views as an “economic war” by the western powers against the emerging economies of South-East Asia, and the nomination of a former general responsible for the massacre of students in the 1970s as the governor of Bangkok. For Venice he has created new episodes in the life of his character, “Mister Pink”, an actor dressed in a spectacular costume of the brightest possible pink silk, who always walks about with a caddy bag of the same colour. From supermarkets to temples, from tourist countries to big meals – he caricatures consumerism and tourism. A ridiculous member of the “nouveau riche”, who is constantly touching upon the limits of extravagant kitsch, he embodies in turn all the faults in our societies. As radical as he is inventive, Manit Sriwanichpoom clearly offers a means of denunciation within contemporary art. Extract from the “Four from Bangkok” press file – Galerie VU / March 2002 At 40 years old, even though he is still little known in Europe, Manit Sriwanichpoom, is a well-established professional who carries out advertising work commercially without any emotional angle. His lucrative orders allow him to develop his work as activist/artist which is all that really interests him. In 1997, when the stock markets and currencies of South-East Asia collapsed, he analysed the situation quite simply as being the result of an economic war by speculators and by the rich countries against the poor and developing countries. Motivated by anger, he very quickly presented parodies of great war or current affair photographs in which the people they depict smoke cigars and coolly execute a prisoner or carry big brand luxury and haute couture bags whilst replaying scenes of refugees or the agony of the little Vietnamese girl who was a victim of American napalm. This series of six images, framed in heavy gold mouldings and entitled “This Bloodless War”, were first shown in the streets of Bangkok, carried by people protecting themselves from pollution with white masks – radical stuff. As too is the square-shaped black-and-white series which explores the modern ruins of innumerable building sites where work was interrupted by the crisis and which, as heaps of scrap iron and rough concrete, represent a distressing mockery of speculation and money. Manit is also pursuing many other projects which hilariously call into question consumerism, tourism and the daily aberrations of contemporary life, using a stooge who is always dressed in the pinkest costume presented in various situations. He is, without a doubt, one of the most consistent activists, who knows how to use the power of the fixed image of photography very directly. Christian Caujolle Gallery for Photography 2, rue Jules Cousin 75004 Paris Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 85 81 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 85 80 e-mail : [email protected] Hungry Ghost Concept & photograph by Manit Sriwanichpoom Pink Man performance by Sompong Thawee If King Kong stood for untamed savagery and Godzilla for nature’s revenge on nuclear age man, then Pink Man the monster is surely their exact opposite. There he stands, in his shiny pink suit, the sum total of contemporary man the monster, as built and bred by extreme capitalism. His whole being ruled by insatiable greed, unchecked by any belief system, social, religious or political, he has become one of the ‘hungry ghosts’ that dutiful Buddhists are supposed to pity and to save by sending them vibrations of love. Through such acts of kindness, we hope to save ourselves from Hell. But alas, we are already there, forever hungry in Hi-tech Hell. How strange that we yearn so much to kill Godzilla and King Kong, yet we condone the existence of Pink Man the monstrous Hungry Ghost. He roams our streets with impunity, and we do nothing. 2, rue Jules Cousin 75004 Paris Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 85 81 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 85 80 e-mail : [email protected] Gallery for Photography M a n i t S r i wa n i c h p o o m EXHIBITIONS 2002 2001 “Quatre de Bangkok” Galerie VU Mois de la Photo Exposition Collective Singapour Horror in Pink Exposition personnelle Art center, Chulalongkom University - Bangkok, Thaïlande Les 4 de Bangkok Exposition Collective PhotoEspana - Madrid, Espagne Pingyao International Photo Festival Exposition Collective - Chine 2000 1999 Bangkok in Black and White Exposition personnelle Foreign Correspondent Club of Thailand Bangkok Inside/Outside Exposition Collective Goethe Institute - Bangkok, Thaïlande Glocal Scents of Thailand Edsvik konst och kultur - Sollentuna, Suède Images of the World Station - Copenhage, Danemark Tourist Industry Forum Stadtpark - Graz, Autriche Diobok Obok Exhibition 5 galeries européennes Tachikawa International Arts Festival - Tokyo, Japon Cities on The Move Secession - Vienne, Autriche Cities on The Move Musée d’Art Contemporain - Helsinki, Finlande International Photography Biennale de Mexico, Mexique Cities on The Moves Haywards Gallery, London, Angleterre The First Fukuoka Asian art Triennale, Japon 1998 Cities on The Moves Musée d’Art Moderne - Louisiana, Danemark Paradise at the mall Exposition personnelle Window - Bangkok, Thaïlande The Pink, The Bad, and The Ugly Exposition Collective Art Center, Chulalongkom University World Artists for Tibet Exposition Collective Project 304 - Bangkok, Thaïlande Plastic (others) Waste Exposition Collective Art Center, Chulalongkom University Never My Land Exposition Collective Sunday Gallery and Foreign Correspondent Club - Bangkok, Thaïlande 24e Bienal Internatinonal de Sao Paulo, Brésil Souvenirs Londres, Angleterre Contemporary Color Photography from Asia - Boston, USA 2, rue Jules Cousin 75004 Paris Tél. : (33) 01 53 01 85 81 Fax : (33) 01 53 01 85 80 e-mail : [email protected] Galerie pour la photographie Asia City This Bloodess War 1997 The photographers’ Gallery - Londres, Angleterre Exposition personnelle Roadside shows - Bangkok, Thaïlande Chiang Mai Social Installation IV Chiang Mai Pink Man I, II, III Soi Lalaisap, Silom road - Bangkok, Thaïlande Bangkok Outsider #4 Rueng Pheng art community - Bangkok, Thaïlande Photographies des 3 Continents Nantes, France Asiatica Phnom Penh, Cambodge One day of my life in a box Bangkok et Allemagne 1996 Bangkok Crisis 2000 Exposition personnelle Art center, Chulalongkom University - Bangkok, Thaïlande 1994 Whisperring from The Skull Exposition personnelle FABS, Siam Square 2nd Experimental Film Workshop Goethe Institut - Bangkok, Thaïlande 1991 Misty Road Exposition personnelle AUA - Bangkok, Thaïlande 1990 Artist in Black and white Exposition personnelle Alliance Francaise - Bangkok, Thaïlande 1st Experimental Film Workshop Goethe Institut - Bangkok, Thaïlande Film & Video 1998 Pink Man on Tour, VDO art. 1995 Uk-ka-bat (Meteorite), 16 mm, experimental short film, 25 min. 1992 Land of Laugh, 16 mm experimental film, 15 min. Edition 2003 Publication dan “BLINK”, ouvrage collectif / Ed. Phaïdon - Londres
