Speaking Alone

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    SPEAKING

    ALONEThavibu Gallery 21 February - 15 March, 2009Curator: Shireen Naziree

    An Exhibition ofConceptual Art from

    Myanmar/Burma

    AUNG MYINT, AYE KO

    PHYU MON, NYEIN CHAN SU

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    SPEAKINGALONE

    Thavibu Gallery 21 February - 15 March, 2009

    Curator: Shireen Naziree

    An Exhibition of

    Conceptual Art from

    Myanmar/Burma

    AUNG MYINT, AYE KO

    PHYU MON, NYEIN CHAN SU

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    Published 2009 by

    Thavibu Gallery Co., Ltd

    Silom Galleria, Suite 308

    919/1 Silom Road, Bangkok 10500, Thailand

    Tel. 66 (0)2 266 5454, Fax. 66 (0)2 266 5455

    Email. [email protected], www.thavibu.com

    Layout by Wanee Tipchindachaikul, Copydesk, Thailand

    Copyright Thavibu Gallery

    All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any orm or by

    any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing rom the publisher.

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    Myanmar... the past has been punctuated with so

    many waves o repression that any sort o sensible

    society must renegotiate its relationships with its rich

    historical past as well as with the dynamic ux that

    represents the rest o Southeast Asia. Geographically

    speaking, Myanmars isolation has become the ace

    o its current national identity which is underwrit-

    ten by the extreme conditions that aect its civil and

    social environment. Decades o social deconstruction

    and economic unease have reconfgured its geographic

    representation, which is clearly distant rom the global

    intersection o technology and visual culture that allow

    openness, ree movement and interconnectedness.

    This national ragility results in wasted vitalities and the

    orced isolation o a population and culture obliged to

    play their assigned roles with quiet dignity.

    This dynamic inevitably leads one to consider whether

    these orces allow or a blossoming o artistic activ-

    ity and natural dialogue among artistic and culturalpractitioners. As raw material, this uncertainty can be

    transormed into visual poetry and become a point o

    departure or unanticipated artistic expeditions through

    irony and allusion, as well as homage to traditional

    cultural and moral values. Keeping in mind Myanmars

    rich cultural past and its current national identity, it goes

    without saying that any shiting o cultural conditionswill aect the production o art in meaningul ways.

    Speaking Alone 3

    Most pertinent to the understanding o Myanmars

    cultural landscape with its melange o activity is

    Myanmars capital Yangon. Yangon is above all a

    commercial centre with a rich history o international

    exchange. Throughout the British colonial rule that

    lasted almost a hundred years, Yangon was a hub

    o international commerce. Colonial Yangon with its

    spacious layout and mix o exquisite colonial and tra-

    ditional architecture was known or its beauty. Despite

    its current dilapidated state, the arts inevitably have

    their oundation in the citys ormer past glory.

    Yangon has a number o private art galleries and

    artists whose work continues to be a vital export

    commodity and source o income, although it is true

    that there are ewer oreign visitors nowadays.

    With virtually no state support and with only two

    art academies oering basic training best suited

    or artisans, Yangon does not have the grassroots

    initiatives necessary or an innovative and internation-

    ally competitive art scene. While it is not uncommon

    to encounter numerous sel-taught artists, it could

    only be expected that serious proessional artists

    (either progressive or conservative) would become

    increasingly committed to inding discursive av-

    enues to explore issues and expose their art envi-

    ronment where almost everybody aspires to be anartist. This attitude is not only embedded in the

    SPEAKING ALONEShireen Naziree

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    4 Speaking Alone

    polarization that has dramatically altered every acet o

    economic practice, but also lies in a historically-based

    nostalgia that has become one o the oundational

    sources o artistic inspiration.

    Although artistic production is oten permeated with

    the nostalgia o a quiet paradise that idolises the past

    and is deeply engaged in the serenity o Buddhism,

    simultaneously there exists a desire to reect on the

    present with its contemporary values, as well as his-

    tory. In addition, there is the mapping o an expanded

    feld by subtly negotiating the relationship between the

    visible and the invisible. This reers to the subliminalaspects o culture that are articulated through every-

    day events and daily practices, which suggest a more

    circuitous commentary on Yangons contemporary

    art scene.

    Conceptual art and perormance art oten ocus on

    negating arts commodity status, a crucial dimensionthat the global contemporary art market now mani-

    estly appropriates. A handul o Yangon artists clearly

    embrace conceptual art practices and perormance

    art that subtly ocus on the notion o social sculpture,

    which in turn consistently addresses the structures

    o power, challenging the controlled ambiguity that

    generally characterizes art in order to promote criti-cal awareness and dialogue. In a place where art eels

    more literal than ever, conceptual art practices actively

    reinterpret the commodiication o art and ideas to

    remind us what it really means to have the liberty to

    think dierently.

    With Yangons cultural landscape seemingly isolated,

    it is tempting to question how conceptual art practices

    may be perceived to have long-lasting eects while

    claiming to be original yet inclusive, autonomous yet

    relevant. An art space such as the Lokanat Art Gallery

    in downtown Yangon has served as a vital social and

    intellectual gathering point o the citys artistic scene

    since the 1970s. Within its downtown location in

    a time-scarred building, Yangons art communityhas literally preserved an artistic liestyle o quiet yet

    determined opposition to the lattening o cultural

    meaning and imagination. This has occurred at a

    time when the speed o an electronically linked planet

    is relected in the swit expansion o art practices

    beyond traditional painting and sculpture to an

    inclusiveness that represents the best possible meanso making personal artistic statements. Freed rom

    the constraints o the canvas, conceptual art allows

    the artist reedom to express any concept through

    any means, especially relating to the politics o the

    day or the politics o the sel.

    Aung Myints art is a clear product o the dynamicinterplay between art and lie in Myanmar.

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    A sel-taught artist, Aung Myint graduated as a

    psychologist rom the Rangoon Arts and Science

    University in 1968. Although his interest in art began

    at an early age, it wasnt until 1969 that he actively

    pursued artistic expression when he participated in a

    group show in Yangon. Sympathetic to the politicalstruggle that has nurtured present-day Myanmar, he

    sought new ways o seeing that would parallel his

    concerns. Given the lack o support and exposure to

    modern art during the latter hal o the twentieth cen-

    tury, largely as a result o the introduction o socialism

    in 1962, Aung Myint became one o the ounding

    members o Yangons Inya Gallery o Art in 1989. With

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    his own synthesis o Theravada Buddhist inuences in

    traditional Burmese art (where non-realist depictions

    reected the artists inner visions and spirituality) and

    the interpretive characteristics o Western abstract

    expressionism (amongst others), Aung Myint became

    a leading fgure on Yangons art scene.

    Aung Myint and his peers were seeking new dimen-

    sions o expression and were ready or a new explosion

    in art. The work Beginning and End in 1995 marked

    Aung Myints debut as a pioneer o perormance

    art. The aesthetic that developed, inherited rom his

    vanguard experimental art, would extend itsel toearn him international recognition and become an

    important element in the development o new media

    art in Myanmar. A renowned painter (Aung Myint

    was the recipient o the Jurors Choice Award at the

    2002 ASEAN Arts Awards competition), he used his

    experience o examining the illusory space o the

    canvas to confgure his place in perormance art bymaking o himsel a piece o material, which together

    with movement and other elements allowed or

    complex and emotional statements.

    Together with a number o noted Burmese artists,

    Aung Myint elevated the status o perormance art

    in Myanmar, particularly through participation innumerous international perormance estivals. Aung

    Myints interactive practices reect the sentiments oAung Myint in perormance at Chaungtha beach,

    Pathain, 1997

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    debut in perormance in 1999 at the Asiatopia II

    perormance art estival in Bangkok. With subsequent

    perormances in Hong Kong, Nagoya and New York,

    Aye Ko oten used elements such as fre and water

    to support his ritualised movements. Prominent in

    Aye Kos perormance works is the use o the writtenword, which can at once be quietly revealing and

    secretive, a source o bonding as well as o separation

    that oten portrays people under impossible conditions.

    It is also a dramatic testament to the power o words

    and the way words are linked to the direct and

    indirect experiences that constitute the apprehension

    o his world

    Working with multiple artistic disciplines, Aye Ko

    produces results that are striking at many levels. What

    is oten remarkable is his association with nature.

    While nature is oten reduced to an abstract orm,

    he incorporates sources rom philosophy and his own

    personal history in his work, sources that he exploressimultaneously. For Aye Ko, the challenge remains a

    constant discovery o trying to weave concepts o the

    individual, the spiritual and nature together into a

    seamless continuum o reconciliation amidst the uncer-

    tainty and harshness o his social environment.

    Nyein Chan Su is best known or his vibrant artisticexpression and ree association perormances.Aye Ko in perormance in Yangon,2006

    6 Speaking Alone

    many Burmese artists and intellectuals. Combining

    live perormances with other orms o expression such

    as installations and video, artists parodied Myanmars

    politics o isolation, oten seizing on its idiosyncrasies

    to highlight their situation.

    Both Aye Ko and Nyein Chan Su are internationally

    renowned artists whose multimedia practices include

    perormance. In capitalising on the rustration o their

    social environment, both artists oten use graphic and

    cosmetic representations to illustrate their statements.

    Also a sel-taught artist, Aye Ko made his international

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    A ounding member o Yangons Studio Square Art

    Gallery, NCS as he is more popularly known is

    recognised or his eclectic practices, oten ormally

    challenging the primacy o the painted surace. NCS

    revels in the excess o meaning, which has reduced the

    gestures o his canvasses to a uency that is a rarityin Myanmar art. NCS does not limit himsel by the

    hierarchy o thought but instead strives to create a

    human intimacy whether in his paintings, installations

    or perormance works. Multiple identities, interactiv-

    ity and narrative choices join together with complic-

    ity to orm the axis o NCSs works. Less reliant on the

    construction o identity, whether individual or cultural,but rather on psychological events, NCS has created

    works with peripheral vision in which sight extends

    beyond the borders o physical location. These

    elements are particularly visible in his series o Nat

    paintings. The artist has used these indigenous spirits,

    an important part o Myanmars cultural and spiritual

    grammar, as thumbprints or signatures to reer to hisBurmese identity.

    Nevertheless, it is in perormance where he boldly

    defnes his situation as an artist within his countrys

    painul modern history. His early works were site

    speciic such as the crowded streets o downtown

    Yangon, which he chose to boldly deine his ownragile emotional states. However, he claims, oten with

    humour, that his works are not particularly rooted in

    Nyein Chan Su in perormance in Bangkok, 2008

    At Thavibu Gallerys 10th Anniversary

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    any particular social or historical circumstances. As

    much as anything, NCSs work is about the assertion

    o his own persona.

    In Southeast Asia, it is no coincidence that the

    emergence o women artists is one o the mostinteresting developments in contemporary art. While

    it is a act that eminist symbolism has incorporated

    a number o attitudes inspired by the rich history

    o the region, the identity o eminist art practice in

    Myanmar remains ambiguous. However, it is impera-

    tive to understand that in Myanmar both individual

    consciousness and a system o social communicationrequire time to establish themselves in a dierential

    relationship to the social environment. And neither o

    these can occur in an environment o isolation because

    their very being depends on exposure.

    Artist Phyu Mon is a rarity. Born in Mandalay but now

    living in Yangon, she makes use o a dierent set oMyanmar traditions. Her work is based on the cul-

    tural values that have encompassed her world as a

    daughter o Myanmar, but with an element o ironic

    contemporary commentary. Digital photography has

    allowed Phyu Mon to work at the intersection o

    several cogent themes, although gender, presence and

    absence are paramount in her work, which has alsoincluded perormance. Her early career ocused on

    paintings that relected her interest in surrealism.

    Phyu Mon in perormance in Yangon, 2008

    Transfxed: What am I?

    Giclee print on archival paper, edition o 2

    90 x 136 cm

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    Intellectual explorations o poetry and the spirituality

    that embodies the sel have provided her with a link

    to her world ractured by prejudices, philosophies and

    crises o identity.

    Digital art has allowed Phyu Mon to turn her attentionto personal narratives that reect her desires and quest

    or a greater identity and social equity or women,

    although she asserts that these developments oten

    reect economic realities and the subservient position

    o Burmese women, an issue that has become an

    ongoing theme in her perormance art.

    SPEAKING ALONE re-enacts the practices o these

    our artists. The exhibition unolds aspects o the on-

    going story o the solitary situation in which artists

    in Myanmar ind themselves. Under the present

    circumstances, artists have become increasingly

    interested in fnding alternative discursive avenues toshelter their artistic expressions rom the impact that

    has dramatically altered many acets o their world.

    Digital electronic technology and the monolithic

    power o the global industrialised art markets have

    encouraged artists to reinvest their aesthetics with

    new dimensions. While this dialectic appears to be

    in opposition to a cultural landscape seemingly littlealtered by time, the limited available technology has

    Transfxed: Inside Out!, 2008

    Giclee print on archival paper, edition o 2

    90 x 136 cm

    Transfxed: Where am I?, 2008

    Giclee print on archival paper, edition o 2

    90 x 136 cm

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    allowed these artists to transcend typical representa-

    tions with renewed authenticity and stronger resonance,

    even i only as a critical reerence point at a time when

    internationally there is a clear and dynamic interplay

    between art, technology and lie in general.

    Transfxed eatures three digital prints on paper and a

    video work by Aye Ko. This combination o digital,

    video and perormance art reveals Aye Kos artistic

    practice as an ongoing exploration o an irresolvable

    relationship between his ethos and, by extension, the

    vacuum o his social environment.

    Aye Ko subtly harnesses the viewers habits o percep-

    tion to access his works, clearly understanding that

    art is absorbed through the senses. He uses imagery

    rom his own physical world to create pictures inspired

    by his own spirituality and emotions wrapped within

    a humanist perspective, which he questions by using

    his physical sel as a canvas to illustrate and mimic theissues he highlights.

    Aye Kos dynamic images in Transixed: What am

    I?, accomplished through varied camera angles and

    sophisticated montage editing, owe much to the rag-

    mented shapes o Cubism, in which multiple views

    o reality seen in repetitive layering allow or multipleunderstandings o reality. In dealing with issues o

    identity, Aye Ko requently uses his own image to

    illustrate the notion o alienation and to involve his

    audience intimately with his narrative. By moving away

    rom the conventional boundaries o representation,

    he conronts the diiculties o being three-dimen-

    sional in a two-dimensional pictorial. The mediation o

    digital photography in Aye Kos work closes the gapbetween dimensionality and atness: Aye Ko and his

    pictures assume equal presences in the photographic

    rame. Typically in Transfxed: Where am I?, he presents

    his emotions as imagery, emphasising the negative

    through a potent use o primary colours.

    Aye Ko makes ull use o his artistic space. Trans-ixed: Inside Out! is both provocative and quiet

    as he ully externalises the notion o sel-explo-

    ration. In his video Transixed: Silent Escape, he

    continues the trajectory, touching on an overlay o

    gestures that allow him to manipulate the surace

    as a painter engages the canvas. These gestures

    demonstrate that sophistication and dignifed artisticeloquence can continue to thrive even in adversity.

    The video draws us into Aye Kos interior lie which is

    to say, his soul, through a kind o spirit photography

    that is evoked by a palette o black and white. Aye

    Kos video concerns itsel with the viewers reaction

    to his emotional solitary state. It does so by allowing

    viewers a glimpse into an historical rameworkthrough gestures that he hopes wi l l inspire

    contemplation o the outer world that surrounds

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    Transfxed: Silent Escape, 2008

    Video still62.45 minutes, edition o 4

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    Mother and Child (6), 2008

    Acrylic and handmade paper on canvas

    82 x 82 cm

    Mother and Child, 2007

    Ceramic

    18 x 23 cm

    Mother and Child (5), 2008

    Acrylic and handmade paper on canvas

    82 x 82 cm

    him. Within the context o Myanmar artists, Aye Ko

    has gained the most international recognition or his

    explorations o sel beyond conventional boundaries,

    using the camera as a conduit or real lie.

    But Aye Ko has not been utterly solitary in his isolation.

    Emotions are the places where dierent memories

    and concepts o representation collide. For Aung

    Myint, the concept o memory is particularly vexing.

    The loss o his mother at our years o age has with

    varying degrees vexed his emotional stability.

    Also drawing upon the political, economic and cul-

    tural considerations that have dictated his intellectual

    makeup, he has constantly attempted to knit the

    ragments together and reconnect with his past. For

    the past several years, Aung Myint has explored issues

    o his identity, with a ocus on its maniestation in the

    emotional ideal o a mothers love. In contrast to Aye

    Ko, Aung Myint describes his melancholy not only inspiritual terms, but as a state o mind that is ultimately

    as lie-afrming as it is negating delicately balanc-

    ing his emotions. In Tears or my Mother, My Moth-

    erland, a body o work that he has executed or this

    exhibition, he oers viewers two signature drawings

    on handmade paper, collage and installation.

    Even though Aung Myints work does not make grand

    political statements (as SPEAKING ALONE is less

    about nationhood and more about the artists trans-

    national or transitional circumstances in relation to

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    Elements rom Tears or My

    Mother, My Motherland, 2009

    Traditional Myanmar papier mchdoll and mixed media paintings

    Size variable

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    their living conditions and impending paradigm shits),he does present the transitory condition o the eco-

    nomic environment o Myanmar in his mixed media

    collage Farewell, where he addresses the paradoxes

    o present-day Myanmar. This work respectively ques-

    tions the bigger picture o Myanmars lost consumer

    economy and social degradation.

    His mixed media installation combining sketches,

    traditional toys and ound objects is rich with per-

    sonal memories; by engaging amiliar objects o his

    childhood which are imbued with deep meanings

    together with his signature sketches, Aung Myint

    defnes where he places himsel in relation to the art

    object. For the installation environment also allows

    or a greater participation by viewers, as Aung Myintinvites them to enter the artwork in a literal sense.

    For SPEAKING ALONE, Phyu Mon avours genteel

    appreciation o the everyday in her ongoing series

    o digital photographs titled Hope, with images o

    children and women gazing into the male strong-

    hold that she perceives dominant in her society. Shedeals cogently with the themes o gender, presence

    and absence. The expansion o various media now

    allows artists to tell their own stories, and thus digital

    manipulation has enabled her to undertake an ever

    deepening exploration o the sel.

    Phyu Mons dominant concern is with the statuso women, their inner tensions and despair at the

    challenges they ace. For regardless o any token

    gestures o equality, it is ultimately the male who is

    in control. It becomes clear that Hope is one o her

    major projects as it stands as a beautiul testament

    to the positive values embodied in images such as

    a child with a balloon. The cultural qualities o herphotographs also relate to the desire to hold onto

    what is being lost. I the images are meant to be a

    Farewell, 2008

    Collage and pencil on canvas

    85 x 117 cm

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    Hope (1), 2008

    Lambda print on archival paper

    edition o 2

    61 x 122 cm

    Hope (3), 2008

    Lambda print on archival paper,

    edition o 2

    60 x 91 cm

    Hope (4), 2008

    Lambda print on

    archival paper,

    edition o 2

    68 x 91 cm

    Hope (2), 2008

    Lambda print on archival paper,

    edition o 2

    61 x 122 cm

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    memorial to a passing era in her own personal lie

    (her youth in Mandalay), they also reveal the loss o

    place that had a signifcant impact in that lie. Hope

    is nostalgic as it gives us a sense o Phyu Mons own

    emotional location. Through her connectedness with

    time, place and situation, Phyu Mon has producedan allegorical body o work that oers a rare contem-

    porary engagement with moral consciousness in a

    world that preers to bury its horrors.

    The striking images comprising Nyein Chan Sus

    latest body o work, People, fnd him exploring the

    expressive power o being human. While he conrontsquestions pertaining to the deteriorating conditions

    o his social environment, he does so in largely ormal

    and sophisticated terms. For SPEAKING ALONE,

    Nyein Chan Su oers examples o the multiplicity o his

    practice with works on canvas and video. Abandoning

    his colourul signature style o painting in avour o

    another territory that is equally rewarding, he tapsinto a requency that is both universal and up to the

    minute, displaying a rare curiosity or experimentation.

    As a photo-conceptualist, Nyein Chan Su expands

    photography with a level o intelligence that subtly

    resonates on multiple cultural planes and yet which

    occasionally reveals issures. In his mixed mediaportraits o prominent cultural activists, he employs

    layered colour and distorted scale and perspective

    People Artist Aye Ko, 2008

    Acrylic painted on inkjet print on vinyl122 x 152 cm

    even though he has moved to starker material. The

    dualism o these inkjet prints on canvas, stamped with

    acrylics, has as much to do with the relation o image,

    art and lie as it does with artistic innovation.

    Social discourse amongst artists and cultural practi-

    tioners is paramount in Yangon, and such relationships

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    People Artist Maung Aw, 2008

    Acrylic painted on inkjet print on vinyl

    122 x 152 cm

    People Artist Maung Maung Zay Ya, 2008

    Acrylic painted on inkjet print on vinyl

    122 x 152 cm

    People Artist Maung Di, 2008

    Acrylic painted on inkjet print on vinyl

    122 x 152 cm

    People Artist Wathone, 2008

    Acrylic painted on inkjet print on vinyl

    122 x 152 cm

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    are at the heart o Nyein Chan Sus practice. People

    is clearly about emotional connection; although all o

    the artworks are conceptual, they possess considerable

    elegance nonetheless. At the same time, they combine

    an acute sense o respect with what could be termed

    a ormal characteristic o appreciation he avoidsbeing sentimental even though interaction with these

    individuals is at once personal and intimate. Likewise,

    he plays with the visual perception o contrasts, as

    maniest in the lack o eye contact by his subjects and

    the distorted scale o the images disfgured with the

    stamps o authority that are the power representa-

    tions pervading all levels o everyday society. Bydipping his paintbrush into these mainstream value

    systems, he eectively explores their inringement,

    be it psychological, intellectual or physical.

    Multiple narrative choices, including complicity, come

    together to orm the axis o Nyein Chan Sus work.

    In Goldish, the video camera allows viewers toexperience the physical and psychological location

    o an unstable, contested space where one must

    tread careully. Deceptively simple in its ormal rigour,

    the flm blends both sound and image together into

    one homogeneous whole. NCS knows exactly how

    to use common examples o his social environment

    to turn it into something one would never expect.

    His output o typically loud music and garish colours

    takes the viewer straight to the streets o Yangon.

    18 Speaking Alone

    Goldfsh, 2008Video still

    3.51 minutes video

    The eect is realistic even though we understand

    that what we are really experiencing is merely a

    silhouette o his own reality. Making the invisible

    visible is the heart o visual expression. Thats what

    Nyein Chan Su and his peers are doing.

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    Aung Myint

    Born in 1946, Aung Myint is regarded as a pioneer in contemporary art in Myanmar. He

    is known or his minimalist expressionism and as an innovator in experimental art. As one

    o the ounding members o Yangons Inya Art Gallery in 1989, Aung Myint distanced his

    art rom the traditional romanticism and instead chose to address social and criticalissues through his multidisciplinary artistic practice that includes perormance and

    installation art. However, he is best known or his ongoing Mother and Child series,

    a subtle but critical interplay between his own personal emotional and social parameters.

    A sel-taught artist, U Aung Myint was the recipient o an ASEAN Art Award in 2001 and

    has participated in numerous exhibitions and perormance art projects internationally

    as well as in Myanmar. His works are in the permanent art collections o the National

    Art Gallery o Malaysia, the Singapore Art Museum and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum,as well as in numerous private collections internationally.

    Aye Ko

    Aye Ko was born in 1963. Although trained in classical and traditional painting under

    the master artist U Min Soe, Aye Ko has established his international reputation throughcontemporary orms o expression that have become his hallmark. The artist has exhib-

    ited extensively; his notable shows include a solo exhibition in New York in 2002 and his

    participation in the exhibition Thermocline o Art, New Asian Waves at the ZKM Museum

    o Contemporary Art in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2007. A renowned perormance artist,

    Aye Ko has participated almost annually in perormance art estivals in Southeast Asia,

    Japan, China and the United States. His art is included in numerous private collections

    internationally as well as in the private ZKM Museum o Contemporary Art.

    Speaking Alone 19

    Artists Biodata

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    Phyu Mon

    Born in 1960 in Mandalay, Phyu Mon graduated rom Mandalay University with

    a Bachelor o Arts degree and studied painting under the master artist U Ba Thaw

    during 1978 and 1979. She was introduced to video and ilm production through a

    programme at the University o Finland. Phyu Mon is one o the very ew women artistsin Myanmar who currently works with digital photography, a medium that has enabled

    her to address the angst that many Myanmar women experience. She has been a

    regular participant in exhibitions since 1985. She represents a new breed o artist who

    openly invests their sense o restriction and oppression with broader meanings. Phyu Mon

    is also a perormance artist and a renowned poet in her native Burmese language.

    Nyein Chan Su

    Nyein Chan Su was born in 1973 and graduated rom the Myanmar State School o

    Fine Arts, Yangon, in 1994 and had his frst solo exhibition at Yangons Lokanat Art

    Gallery in 1997. His participation in the 1999 Fukuoka Art Triennale in Japan launched

    his international art career. He has since participated in numerous internationalexhibitions .He is equally renowned as a painter and perormance artist as or his video

    installations. A ounding member o Yangons Studio Square Art Gallery, Nyein Chan Su

    is widely regarded as one o Myanmars most promising mid-career artists. In 2001, he

    received a Certifcate o Recognition rom the ASEAN Art Awards and in 2004 was the

    second prize winner o the Myanmar Contemporary Art Awards competition. Nyein Chan

    Sus artworks are in the permanent collections o the Singapore Art Museum, Fukuoka

    Asian Art Museum as well as private collections in Europe and Asia.

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    www.thavibu.comThe Silom Galleria, 3rd FloorSuite 308, 919/1 Silom rd.,

    Bangkok 10500, ThailandTel (662) 266 5454, Fax. (662) 266 5455

    E-mail. [email protected]

    B1G1 - Thavibu Gallery has partnered with Buy 1 Give 1 Free, which

    implies that when you buy an art work rom Thavibu Gallery you will

    automatically give a donation to a charity in the B1G1 network. Donation

    rom one painting purchased provides one blind person with accommo-

    dation and shelter or one month. www.buy1-give1ree.com