Contour is an exhibition resulting from the projects developed during an artist residency by two Thai artists, Angkrit Ajchariyasophon and Tawatchai Pattanaporn, on display from 11 March – 9 April 2016 at Numthong Gallery.
In this exhibition, Tawatchai adds in the ‘characters’ that were absent in his previous exhibition of the series (Contour, 2015 at Cloud Gallery) and returns to the usage of a B&W picture style in order to express pictorial emotion. The artist further utilizes a close-up format in order to collaborate directly with the victims’ facial expressions captured in ‘RT Portraits, 2015,’ bringing an expression of the poignancy occurring in that specific period of time to the forefront. In addition to his portrait work, the artist additionally transfers the pictures from a gelatin silver material to traditional Japanese paper (Contour 01-04, 2016), creating a relationship between the story, that can be read through photograph, and the medium’s context while also merging the photographs with Angkrit’s painting works.
Adjacent to the photographs and on the opposite side of exhibition room Angkrit’s paintings (1601-1614, 2016 from the project 1000 Rainbows) are displayed in a manner that directly confronts the photographs, creating a dialogue and calling upon the ‘color’ relations to reference Thailand’s social context. It could be simply coincidence, or perhaps a purposeful process, but the setting staging such dialogue between the photographs and sense of color reminds us of a different usage of color called upon between Japan and Thailand after the crisis, while color is also the symbol of ‘Hope’ for people in Rikuzentakata, diversely, presenting a kind of unforgettable wound and representing the political conflict within the context of Thailand.
