A Gallery by Kittisak Butdeewong
Fortunately, I have had the opportunity recently, for the second time, to assist a good friend of mine, artist, Kittisak Butdeewong with most of the Thai>English language preparations for his latest gallery. Kittisak, hailing from the north-eastern rural province of Mukdahan and of Lao descent, spent the best part of two years compiling more than 100 pieces of work for the gallery entitled ‘Sunshine in the Wide Country’. And to get a ‘feel’ for the paintings, spent 6 months of that as a practitioner of Buddhist teachings (Dhamma) in an upcountry monastery.
Following on from his previous gallery at Chulalongkorn University, In the Heart of Nature in 2007, Kittisak has again decided to emphasize his fondness for rural Thailand. Sunshine in the Wide Country is a collection of watercolor paintings, in accordance with his own style, which intends to record the nature and ways of the countryside.
A true country lad by birth, Kittisak says that he has never got used to living in urban Thailand and had this to say at his previous gallery “Everyday, on waking up in my urban home, I long to turn in the direction of the Thai countryside but like yourself, I have to adhere to the responsibilities of worldly duties. Life in the concrete jungle is one of materialism, desire and suffering”.
As part of the gallery, nationally renowned poet Prof. Siwakarn Patoomasoot will be putting on his own poetry exhibition also reflecting on the Thai countryside and the laws of nature.
Kittisak Butdeewong is a graduate of painting sculpture and painting art from Silpakorn University and a former art instructor at Suphanburi College of Fine Arts. Sunshine in the Wide Country is his forth solo exhibition. In near future, he hopes to relocate to the rural mountainous northern province of Chiang Rai.
Open to the public, Sunshine in the Wide Country will be held at Jamjuree Art Gallery, Chulalongkorn University, 10-27 October, open Mon-Fri 10am – 7pm and Sat-Sun 12-6pm.
