尼蒂·瓦圖亞

曼谷，朱拉隆功大學，「黑暗年代」，1998年8月6日-30日，Numthong 畫廊

史蒂芬·佩蒂弗，《味道：泰國當代藝術》，Thavibu 畫廊，2003年，第119頁

The work is in good condition overall. Indication of light wear and handling is evident, but the paint layers are intact on each individual panel. Under ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. Unframed.
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Niti Wattuya is a self-taught painter who is respected for redefining contemporary art in Thailand. References to water and nature are favoured themes throughout the collection of works, evident of his youth growing up as an orphan along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. He made up for his lack of formal education by reading extensively, understanding at a young age that self-determination would be the key to his growth, and eventual success as an artist.      

The present work is a collection of portraits that are brought together to create a unified and harmonious gathering. The artist has appropriated traditional Thai painting techniques into a modern framework. He was inspired by a temple mural that depicted a bustling market scene, and wished to recreate this sense of community within his own work. In Dark Age numerous faces fill the narrative, with each one looking out towards a different direction. This is a deliberate ploy from the artist to encourage interaction between the work and the audience.

Dark Age marks the artist’s early experiments with two-dimensional images in an objectified frame. The piece is a combination of cut out wooden silhouettes that are paired together with painted portraits, to create a sense of depth and movement within the artwork. The work also shows Niti introducing human figures into the narrative, an important detail in the artist’s oeuvre, for it contrasts with his usual motifs, and subject matters.

 The three colours in Dark Age hold a special importance for the artist. The colour black alludes to human ignorance, and red signifies human beings, emphasizing the heat, pain, and passionate emotions that influence every individual’s life. Meanwhile gold leaf is a popular motif in religious ceremonies, and local landmarks. It is also a colour that is associated with the Thai identity.

“I commandeer Buddha’s image much in the same way that Warhol used Monroe’s portrait. Gold is just a metal. It has no real value”¹, he said.

Created in 1998, Dark Age was a response to the socio-political climate that existed within Southeast Asia during this period. “[The series] is my observation [about] society, as seen from the past forty years. It rises and falls, and vice versa”², he said. One of the first Thai artists to achieve recognition locally and overseas, the artist’s paintings may be read as a visual history of the emergence of contemporary art in Thailand.

¹Steven Pettifor, Flavours: Thai Contemporary Art, Thavibu Gallery Co Ltd., Bangkok, 2003, p.119.

 ² Refer to 1