Siam Vision
by Asst. Prof. Dr. Krisana Honguten
Nakhon Pathom, Sep. 3, 2002

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