Siam
Vision
by Asst. Prof. Dr.
Krisana Honguten
Nakhon Pathom, Sep. 3, 2002 |
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Bringing together two artists
of different generations, nationalities and backgrounds is both
novel and gratifying for this event. On the one hand we have
the late Assistant Professor Damrong Wong-Uparaj, a Thai artist
who should have turned 666 on 15t September this year. Damrong
had a preference for depicting scenes of rural Thailand, the
simple Thai way of life, and its peaceful and natural beauty.
On the other hand, there is Matthias Rataiczyk, a 42 year old
German artist who came to Thailand 3 years ago in search of something
new and inspirational. Inspired by the the ancient stone architecture
of northeastern Thailand, he converyed the images through his
paintings by choosing to present certain elements from certain
angles that he considered interesting. Although the techniques
and mediums used by the two artists, as well as the subject matter,
are different, there is however, a common aspect and that is,
both of them used art to portray Siam from their own individual
perspectives. Whilst Damrong depicted natural rural charm with
immaculate refinement, Rataiczyk depicted majestic ancient civilization
through the use of lines and colors.
Damrong Wong-Uparaj
Assistant Professor Damrong Wong-Uparaj was born on 1st September
1936 in Pan district of Chiangrai province. He graduated with
a bachelor's degree in painting from the Faculty of Painting
Sculpture and Graphic Arts at Silpakorn University, then went
on to study at University College of London's Slade School under
a grant from the British Council. He was awarded the J.D. Rockefeller
3rd Fund Fellowship to do a master's degree in art at the University
of Pennsylvania, and also studied history of art at Columbia
University in New York. In addition, he also received grants
to do research and studies in France, Italy, Germany, Denmark,
Australia, Japan and China.
Damrong had consistantly produced works of art since 1955 until
his final days, experimenting with various different techniques
and styles from real to abstract. Between 19551958, while he
was still a student, he was preoccupied with realism, impressionism,
and post-impressionism. From 1959-1961 he began applying his
knowledge of traditional Thai art and his love of nature and
the simple rural way of life, to his work in the realistic style.
The work entitled "Fishing Village", one of his "Thai
Countryside" series in this period, received a gold medal
award from the 11th National Exhibition of Art in 1960. In his
final two years as a student at Silpakorn University between
1961 - 1962, he turned his interest to abstract art. The "Klong"
and "Klong Wan" series of this period in which he gave
a lot of attention to the use of lines and colors, reveal the
influence of Cubism in the development of his work. Then between
1962 - 1970 he completely abandoned all allusions to realism.
This 8 year period thus saw his works in purely abstract style.
In the first 4 years, he placed emphasis on the use of lines,
colors and tones in the manner of abstract art to suggest movement
and dynamism whilst the use of collage helped to give depth and
texture. He also consciously searched for suitable symbols to
apply to his works. The subsequent 4 years was the period in
which he received a grant to study in Philadelphia and New York.
In this period, he reduced his use of colors and concentrated
on the simple geometric forms such as squares and circles instead.
It can be said that the works in this period resulted from synthesising
pure abstract art through meditated effort according to his own
style.
In the years 1970 - 1976, Damrong's works began to revert back
to realism once again. "Rice Field" created during
his stay in Nakorn Pathom, was inspired by nature, and executed
in the abstract style. The important turning point came during
the period he was studying and doing research in Japan between
1976- 1977, funded by the Japan Foundation. At this point, he
departed from abstractionism altogether. The beauty of nature;
the hills, the fields, the simple forms of Japanese houses, the
early Shinto temples in the countryside, greatly impressed him
with their serenity and lit up his imagination to once again
produce realistic style art using new techniques which he discovered
and experiented with during his stay in Japan. This new technique
involved the use of pen, ink and colors. After his return from
Japan in 1977 he developed his Japanese works into a style that
was finally his own through using ink, tempera, and acrylic on
canvas and paper.
Impressed with the rural way of life, the subject matter of his
paintings thus usually dealt with rural dwellings and elements
in the landscape that were waiting to be represented in the realistic
style. The images of a few simple houses in the rural areas built
with wood, bamboo, and thatched roofs are reminiscent of farmers'
houses up in the north some 50 - 60 years ago. Some of them stand
alone in a valley or field, or by a river. These images in Damrong's
work are familiar to all. The difference between each picture
however, lies in the clever way he arranged each composition.
The houses may be placed in the fore or centerground, and the
distant background would be sceneries of fields, hills, or river.
The way Damrong arranged his composition reflects the artist's
cleverness and his free spirit. This can be seen from the angles
and the certain parts of the house he chose to depict such as
the front, the side, the roof from a bird's eye view, or a close
up view as if through a camera lens with the image filling up
almost the entire canvas revealing all the details clearly. As
for the scenery in the background, he sometimes used blue so
as to accentuate the house in the foreground without being concerned
about the distance. This can be seen in the "Farming Village"
and "Water Village" series produced between 1993- 1995.
Damrong's unique and outstanding creativity apart from the clever
arrangements in his composition, lies in the proficient use of
perspective, colors, and lines. Thus all his paintings are like
symphony in the rural landscape filled with pure and refreshing
air of nature, the serenity, and the joys of life which form
the bases for meditation and wisdom.
Interestingly enough, the absence of people in the paintings
does not make his works appear lifeless in any way. In fact,
his incorporation of everyday-life objects around the house into
the compositions and treat them with particular attention, actually
suggests life as they await their owner to pick them up and use
them.
Although Damrong's works may be labeled realistic, they cannot
however, be identified with any real or existing place since
they were created out of his own imagination. Clearly his intention
was not to paint just another village scenery, but to depict
the rural way of life amidst the serenity and beauty of nature,
with straightforward simplicity according to his ideology of
life.
Damrong was a very successful and famous artist recognized nationally
and internationally both as artist and academic. His paintings
have been exhibited in museums and galleries in Asia, Europe,
America and Australia. He was also a delegate representing Thailand
at ASEAN, UNESCO, and other world art conventions. Justifiably,
he was honored as one of Thailand's National Artist in the visual
arts (painting) section in 1999.
Damrong Wonguparaj passed away on 30th April 2002 at Nakorn Chaisri
Hospital in Nakorn Pathom. His demise was indeed a great loss
for the art circle in Thailand.
Matthias Rataiczyk
Matthias Rataiczyk was born in 1960, Halle,
(East) Germany. After having graduated in painting and applied
arts from College of Industrial Design-Burg Giebichenstein (University
status) in Halle in 1987, he became a free-lance artist. The
unification of the two Germany and the opening up of the Berlin
Wall in November 1989 provided the opportunity for this young
artist to step out into the world with ease and freedom. From
1990 onwards, Rataiczyk traveled the world seeking raw materials
for his works in many countries such as Italy, Spain, Turkey,
Indonesia, Portugal, Mexico, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Rataiczyk's interest is in old dilapidated buildings. To him,
the plaster veneer that has crumbled, the peeling paint and worn
out facades are a testimony of the building's fate and history.
Such apparent traces of their glory and downfall inspired his
imagination, and so he enjoys traveling to lands that he has
never visited, collecting memories in sketches and photographs
which he would take home and then recreate them into paintings
of his own style.
Rataiczyk prefers to paint in series, some of which may comprise
up to more than 10 pieces of work. This helps him to develop
his ideas in a continuous and systematic way by slowly digesting
all knowledge, experiences, memories and impressions of each
travel as well as impressions of the different ways of life,
customs and traditions of the local people. It also helps the
viewer to see the overall picture of the building more clearly
as if putting together a jigsaw puzzle and freely imagining the
entire architectural structure.
This unique style of Rataiczyk's is not considered to be realism,
but rather takes the images of architectural ruins that have
decayed through time and presented them in an abstract way. The
elements in the compositions are usually some parts of a building
component or structure, arranged in simple and clear manner with
reduced details and colors.
The outstanding quality of this artist lies in his choice of
what to present, what to simplify, what to add, where to highlight
or emphasize with lines, colors, or light and shade. His skill
and ideas as well as the way he presents them, especially his
use of warm and cool tones, and the spatial suggestions reflecting
his proficiency in the use of colors and his knowledge of perspective,
are the aspects that give life to his works. It draws the viewers
into the picture via the pathway or by looking up at the columns
and beams to see the omitted details, and to see if the colors
result from light or from reflected colors in the glazing of
ceramics.
From 1990 onwards, Rataiczyk created several series of works
in this style, such as the painting of the over 200 year old
paper factory on Salle River in Halle which has been abandoned
and left to deteriorate for over 60 years as a testimony of its
important past. In the Venice series, he depicts houses along
two sides of a small canal whilst the Morocco series reminds
one of bright sunlight and heat in contrast with the dark shadows
cast on the walls of the buildings. The Mexico series on the
other hands, shows the sculptural relief and details that adorn
old buildings testifying the 1000 years of civilization. As for
the series on Thailand in this exhibit, he presents columns,
gables, lintels and galleries of ancient Khmer style architecture.
These are voices of the past to remind us of the greatness and
the golden age of ancient civilization in Siam.
Today, Matthias Rataiczyk is still producting his art works by
the Salle river in Halle, and is the administrative chairman
of "Talstrasse" gallery which he founded in 1991.
Translated by Asst. Prof. Den Wasiksiri
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