Paiting by Chhim Sothy (Photo: Saklapel.org)August 01, 2008
Claudia Seise, Contributor, Yogyakarta
The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
One of Cambodia's few well-known artists, Chhim Sothy, will showcase his work in Yogyakarta for a month.
Sothy, whose works have been collected by several embassies and ministries in Cambodia and selected to be shown in the Beijing Biennale 2008 in China, will display his work at the Tembi House of Culture in Yogyakarta.
Cambodia, compared to Indonesia, cannot show off a young and exciting art scene. Exhibition openings are rare. And modern or contemporary Cambodian art is rare.
Few artists survive. With the help of NGOs and other foreign institutions, young Cambodian artists have started to experiment with traditional painting styles, usually depicting Angkor Wat, the Cambodian landscape of rice fields and palm trees or the famous classical Apsara dancers.
Expressionistic styles have found their way into traditional themes and abstract paintings can be viewed in a few galleries around the capital of Phnom Penh.
However, paintings are mostly found in small commercial galleries that sell artwork as a souvenir for a minimum price.
Within the last year, exhibitions, showing artwork away from handicraft and souvenirs, were launched and young Cambodian artists started showcasing their works.
Chhim Sothy, however, does not belong to this group of young artists.
He is one of the few artists that established their career after the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge regime most artists and intellectuals were killed.
Sothy belongs to the generation that experienced the horror of the Khmer Rouge as small children.
Sothy paintings are full with Cambodia's colors of monk orange, flower beige and red. His themes are Cambodian culture and tradition. One can even find the Cambodian version of Rama and Sinta from the Ramayana epic in many of his paintings.
While Sothy preserves the refined motives and gestures of the Cambodian Apsara dancers and Ramayana characters, he is not shy to mix traditional styles, which are usually handed down by monks from Buddhist monasteries, with contemporary styles.
Sothy's style of painting is rare in Cambodia and it is probably for this reason why people stand in line to buy his artwork.
His exhibition at Tembi House of Culture in Yogyakarta belongs to an intercultural exchange project between Indonesia and Cambodia, initiated by Tembi House of Culture and Art Caf‚ Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
Before Sothy was invited to show his work in Indonesia, two young Indonesian artists -- Askanadi and Karina Putri Haryanto -- exhibited their works at the Art Caf‚ in Phnom Penh.
The project's aim is to strengthen cultural relations with the idea that Southeast Asian countries should not only look westwards but see their immediate neighbors as well.
For Sothy, it is his first exhibition and visit to the country.
He was chosen to participate in the project since he is probably one of Cambodia's most active artists. He never rests -- always painting, taking part in international competitions and ready to launch yet another exhibition.
During a recent visit at his studio in Phnom Penh, the amount of paintings and the creative chaos were overwhelming. The love to his tradition and culture make every one of his paintings special.
Chhim Sothy Solo exhibition Open Aug. 1 - Sept. 1, 2008 At Tembi House of Culture Yogyakarta Jl. Parangtritis km. 8, 4 Tembi, Timbulharjo, Sewon Bantul Yogyakarta
Sothy, whose works have been collected by several embassies and ministries in Cambodia and selected to be shown in the Beijing Biennale 2008 in China, will display his work at the Tembi House of Culture in Yogyakarta.
Cambodia, compared to Indonesia, cannot show off a young and exciting art scene. Exhibition openings are rare. And modern or contemporary Cambodian art is rare.
Few artists survive. With the help of NGOs and other foreign institutions, young Cambodian artists have started to experiment with traditional painting styles, usually depicting Angkor Wat, the Cambodian landscape of rice fields and palm trees or the famous classical Apsara dancers.
Expressionistic styles have found their way into traditional themes and abstract paintings can be viewed in a few galleries around the capital of Phnom Penh.
However, paintings are mostly found in small commercial galleries that sell artwork as a souvenir for a minimum price.
Within the last year, exhibitions, showing artwork away from handicraft and souvenirs, were launched and young Cambodian artists started showcasing their works.
Chhim Sothy, however, does not belong to this group of young artists.
He is one of the few artists that established their career after the Khmer Rouge. During the Khmer Rouge regime most artists and intellectuals were killed.
Sothy belongs to the generation that experienced the horror of the Khmer Rouge as small children.
Sothy paintings are full with Cambodia's colors of monk orange, flower beige and red. His themes are Cambodian culture and tradition. One can even find the Cambodian version of Rama and Sinta from the Ramayana epic in many of his paintings.
While Sothy preserves the refined motives and gestures of the Cambodian Apsara dancers and Ramayana characters, he is not shy to mix traditional styles, which are usually handed down by monks from Buddhist monasteries, with contemporary styles.
Sothy's style of painting is rare in Cambodia and it is probably for this reason why people stand in line to buy his artwork.
His exhibition at Tembi House of Culture in Yogyakarta belongs to an intercultural exchange project between Indonesia and Cambodia, initiated by Tembi House of Culture and Art Caf‚ Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
Before Sothy was invited to show his work in Indonesia, two young Indonesian artists -- Askanadi and Karina Putri Haryanto -- exhibited their works at the Art Caf‚ in Phnom Penh.
The project's aim is to strengthen cultural relations with the idea that Southeast Asian countries should not only look westwards but see their immediate neighbors as well.
For Sothy, it is his first exhibition and visit to the country.
He was chosen to participate in the project since he is probably one of Cambodia's most active artists. He never rests -- always painting, taking part in international competitions and ready to launch yet another exhibition.
During a recent visit at his studio in Phnom Penh, the amount of paintings and the creative chaos were overwhelming. The love to his tradition and culture make every one of his paintings special.
Chhim Sothy Solo exhibition Open Aug. 1 - Sept. 1, 2008 At Tembi House of Culture Yogyakarta Jl. Parangtritis km. 8, 4 Tembi, Timbulharjo, Sewon Bantul Yogyakarta
1 comment:
The artwork is very Siamese style.
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