The fascinating female faces of the Bangkok Art Biennale

The fourth edition of the Bangkok Art Biennale (abbreviated as BAB) is in full flow, and has already attracted more than 500,000 visitors. It opened on October 24 and will continue until February 25.

This year there are 76 dynamic artists from 29 countries, whose works are on display in 11 diverse locations across the city.

Prof. Apinan Posyananda, artistic director of Bangkok Art Biennale, has a close relationship with Indian art, so Indian artists have always painted in the four duels. In fact, he visited Kochi Biennale last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

“My interest in Indian art dates back more than three decades, when I was teaching art at Chulalongkorn University,” said Dr Apinan, who has personally selected Indian artists for the four biennales, although he has other curators. Dr Apinan is one of the country’s most respected art curators and has served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture. He is currently associated with Thai Beverage Company, the main sponsor of the Bangkok Art Biennale. Dr Apinan’s experience working with both public and private enterprises has been invaluable to the success of the four biennial conferences held in Bangkok.

In addition to a selection of dynamic artists from many diverse countries, Thai art curators have presented art in places where it has never been featured before, including Buddhist temples and this year the prestigious National Gallery of Thailand. It’s not every day you see opulent antiques sitting side by side with avant garde art-works, like at BAB 2024. Again, you don’t see/hear an old Buddhist temple with western opera music from a video installation.

In many ways, this year’s BAB has raised the bar. It has a lot to do with its overarching theme “Natur Gaia”.. Gaia is the Greek goddess of the earth, so this year’s BAB covers a wide array of topics, e.g. Feminism, mythology, nature and environment. Therefore, we have very diverse images, and also an amazing range of styles.

“Biennales have energized the city’s art scene,” said Dr Apinan proudly.

Among the four Indian artists participating in BAB 2024, the most famous is British-Indian Anish Kapoor, who was at the 2020 edition with two of his spectacular installations.

Kapoor has another attractive installation, again made of stainless steel. was called S curveThe convex and concave edges of this mega installation magically reflect all the people around it. S curve The much-talked about, new commercial complex One is set in Bangkok’s outer gardens, Another with world famous artist Tony Cragg’s stainless installation. Both will be permanent exhibits in this new luxury building.

Another Indian artist whose work is featured prominently this year is renowned sculptor Ravindra Reddy. Her signature images are of women with bright faces and buxom bodies.

“My characters are simple people full of life, who spread goodness and happiness around,” said Reddy. She has three gold-embossed, nude female statues at the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center (BACC), as well as a blue head, Parvati, In the National Gallery.

Reddy is said to be an attractive idol Head A few years ago it was placed outside the popular Central World Mall. Reddy admitted that he had never exhibited his artwork in a mall before. “It’s an experience to feel physically,” he said.

However, he did not enjoy the political rallies outside Malla in 2010, which some protestors took as his words. the head For Kali and tried to damage it, so it had to be removed from there.

An artist who produces different, but equally attractive images of women, K. George, famous for his fiberglass hijra transwomen, which created waves in India and many other countries. Dr Apinan met him at the Kochi Biennale and invited him to BAB 2024.

Self-taught George is a former banker who was swept away by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami while in Chennai. When he recovered, he developed a new outlook on life. It was during a trip to a temple festival in Villipuram village in Tamil Nadu that he met the Arwanis, a traditional community of transgenders, and was moved and mesmerized.

Sculpture of George hijra After making waves in Parliament, he went abroad to Paris and Sydney. Three of his sculptures on display at the National Museum in Bangkok are stunning not only for their attention to physical detail but also for the power and emotion in their faces.

The last Indian artist at BAB 2024, Chitra Ganesh who lives in New York but is totally inspired by India. A graduate of semiotics, the study of cultural symbolism, is inspired by graphic comics, poster art, science fiction and mythology. Immortal picture story. She plays with mythological symbolism to question the contemporary reality of conflict, power, desire and especially the balance between humans and their environment.

His large and striking works on display at BAB are filled with these symbols. He also has an animation film, CoordinationOne who studies the art of breathing and meditation. In it, in characteristic style, she sets the human against a heavy environment. The picture made a great artwork reincarnation, at Penn Station in New York, which was described as “larger than life”. Time out.

While Chitra loves Brooklyn and its vibrant art community, she regularly visits India, and participates in major events there, including the Kochi Biennale, India Art Fair and gallery shows.

The four Indian artists participating this year showcase the diverse range and dynamism of this year’s Bangkok Art Biennale.

BAB 2024’s locations range from malls and commercial spaces to cultural centers and sprawling convention complexes, riverside locations, and a variety of wonderful temples.

With the influx of Indian tourists to Thailand (a record two million Indian tourists visited Thailand this year), this is a great opportunity for them to see world art.

BAB arranges regular art tours and lectures for detail checking https://www.bangkokartbiennale.com.

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