尤莉·坎萨库：骑白马的女子
The Lady on a White Horse：A Solo Show by Yuree Kensaku
策展人 Curator：Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani
开 幕 Opening：2019.6.20 6 – 8 pm
展 期 Duration：2019.6.20 – 7.24
地点 Location：泰国曼谷帕度万伦披尼区，拉查丹利路，金地广场三楼 3rd Flr, The Peninsula Plaza, 153 Rajdamri Rd. Lumphini, Pathumwan
当代唐人艺术中心荣幸地宣布，将于2019年6月20日在曼谷空间推出艺术家尤莉·坎萨库的个展“骑白马的女子”。展览取材于东南亚广泛流传的民间传说和神话故事中的超自然生物，展出尤莉最新创作的令人惊异的作品。
泰国流传着一个著名的故事，预言日后将有一位“骑白马的女子”横空出世，成为民族的救主。有人说，这则预言只是某位泰国高僧虚构的。“骑白马的女子——尤莉·坎萨库个展” 即是在此东南亚传说和神话的背景下，表现了宗教和社会文化背景所孕育的英雄与超级英雄概念，是人们藉以逃离现实的一种方式。换言之，在战争、暴力与政局动荡的时代，人们构想出各种神鬼幻兽和传奇英雄，也提取现实斗争中崭露头角的真实英雄，编织出正义战胜邪恶的故事，从而驱散内心的恐惧。
《骑白马的女子》亚麻布、丙烯、闪光颜料、银箔与拼贴 | The Lady on a White Horse, Acrylic, glitter, silver leaf and collage on linen | 150 x 540 cm 2019
众所周知，尤莉擅于运用糖果般缤纷的色彩和日本漫画般的创作风格，“粉饰”那些令人不安的社会事件以及饱尝苦痛与煎熬的人们。在其全新作品系列《骑白马的女子》中，尤莉思考了民间传说和神话故事如何影响我们的日常生活和社会文化，如何扭曲甚或虚构事实。为此，尤莉在作品中融入了流行文化中标志性的视觉叙事，以十分微妙的方式质疑艺术作品中的“再现”手法能否准确地再现现实；并且最终探索这一命题：人们的所知所见只是幻象而已；由于人性的脆弱及对社会变革的抵触，人们制造出这些幻象来掩盖事实真相。
《骑白马的女子》局部 | The Lady on a White Horse (detail)
本次展览将呈现油画、丝网版画和雕塑等各种形式，而展览的同名作品——5米长的布面油画《骑白马的女子》无疑是重量级展品。画面描述了预言中的场景，年轻的女救世主跨坐在白马上，身边是凶恶野兽、往日的残迹和身披伪装的黑乌鸦。巨大的幅面将一切放大，促使人们思考这则预言对当今泰国社会结构与政治结构的影响。
《2019年3月24日的预言》 闪光纸、丝网版画 | The Prophecy of 24 March 2019, Silkscreen on shimmering paper | 88.3 x 60cm 2019
围绕这一主题，展览中还有两件作品值得一提：一是《2019年3月24日的预言》，该作以丝网版画的形式，复制了2019年3月24日的中国黄历，且页面底部写有当天的运势预测。这天是泰国自2011年以来的首次大选，是一个充满希望和可能性的日子。
《这不是一只黑乌鸦》 布面丙烯 | Ceci n’est pas un corbeau noir, Acrylic on canvas | 60.33 x 81.12 cm 2019
另外，尤莉的布面油画《这不是一只黑乌鸦》（Ceci n’est pas un corbeau noir）是对勒内·马格里特（René Magritte）《这不是一个烟斗》（Ceci n’est pas un pipe）的致敬。该作品指涉了“白乌鸦撒播谎言”这一泰国民间传说，进而讨论了“再现”的概念，语言与客观事物之间的关系，以及它们如何被社会认知，如何得到后代的认可和继承。
本次展览一如既往地将来自不同宗教、不同信仰的象征符号融合在一起，且参展作品活力四射，充满了视觉魅力。初见尤莉的作品，观者可能被其生动的场景画面所吸引。然而在画面背后，是她以独到的艺术视野与创作功力，暗讽泰国社会乃至全球所面临的文化和政治上的不确定性。
《美猴王与蟠桃》 帆布、丙烯、闪光颜料与拼贴 | Monkey King and the Peach of Immortality, Acrylic, glitter and collage on canvas | 120 x 80 cm 2019
艺术家简介
尤莉‧坎萨库生于1979年，现居泰国，是一位跨学科艺术家。其作品具有活力充沛的用色，诙谐幽默的风格，以及糖果般色彩缤纷却含有“暗黑”意蕴的卡通人物，这些已成为她独树一帜的特点。初见尤莉的作品，观者会觉得十分有趣；但细品之下便会发现，她始终对社会进行着大胆而辛辣的批判，并对自己女性艺术家的人生历程做着深刻的反思。
《顶端捕食者》展览现场，新加坡美术馆，新加坡，2016 | Apex Predator, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, 2016
《Nagabi Transferry》展览现场，泰国双年展，甲米，2018 | Nagabi Transferry, Thailand Biennale, Krabi, 2018
尤莉参与了国内外诸多个展与群展，包括“桃太郎少女历险记”，横滨美术馆，2007年；“记忆的总和：关渡双年展 ”，国立台北艺术大学关渡美术馆，台北，台湾，2010年；“梦想时光：第4届莫斯科国际青年艺术双年展”, 莫斯科博物馆，俄罗斯，2014年；“两象争斗，草地遭殃”，香港巴塞尔艺术展，2015年；“幻像之城：海之上，海之下”，新加坡美术馆，2016年；以及《边界幻境：泰国国际双年展》，泰国甲米，2018年。尤莉的作品受到森美术馆，新加坡美术馆，横滨美术馆，清迈MAIIAM当代艺术博物馆，以及许多私人收藏名家永久收藏。
《热点美梦》展览现场，第四届莫斯科国际青年艺术双年展，莫斯科博物馆，俄罗斯，2014 | Hot Spot Sweet Dream, 4th Moscow international Biennale for Young Art, Museum of Moscow, Russia, 2014
策展人简介
Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani 是独立策展人、作家和讲师，专注于东南亚当代艺术。其研究和策展实践围绕东南亚重要的社会政治问题展开，并与艺术家和艺术专业人士开展持续对话，倡导反霸权的、非西方中心主义的话语。其近期策展项目包括：“净土：黎光定个展”（2019年），当代唐人艺术中心曼谷；“离散：东南亚的出走、流亡、移民 ”（2018-2019年），清迈MAIIAM当代艺术博物馆，并任展览出版物编辑。该出版物刊载多篇文章，探讨非主流的艺术和社会。
以往的策展项目包括：“或正或反？当代泰国的不确定性与张力”（2017年），圣德拉姆泰戈尔画廊；“游戏 /越南—黎氏兄弟”（2016年），吉姆汤普森艺术中心；“建筑景观：东南亚在最前沿”（2015年），纽约皇后区艺术博物馆。曾在多家学术机构的期刊上发表文章，如新加坡国立大学亚洲研究所（ARI）的期刊，英国圣安德鲁斯大学的《Frames Cinema Journal》；新加坡南洋艺术学院的《New Asian Imagination》等。在各种展览出版物以及《CoBo Social》、《ArtRepublik》，《Artand Market》等艺术杂志上发表多篇艺术对话。现在英国伦敦和泰国曼谷两地生活。
《天妇罗人鱼姬坐在永存的废品上》 玻璃纤维、玻璃、树脂、闪光颜料与工业漆 | Gogi Chan Sitting on the Eternal Waste, Fiberglass, glass, resin, glitter and industrial paint | 164 x 101 x 67cm 2019
Tang Contemporary Art Bangkok is proud to announce the opening of Yuree Kensaku’s solo show “The Lady on a White Horse” on June 20, 2019.
There is a well-known prophecy in Thailand known as The Lady on a White Horse. While some people claim a famous Thai monk devised the tale, the prophecy tells of the day Thailand will be saved by a woman on a white horse. Taking the lead from the pervasive folklore and mythology of supernatural beings of Southeast Asia, the exhibition The Lady on a White Horse – A Solo Show by Yuree Kensaku engages with the notion of heroes and superheroes kindled by religion and social culture as a way to escape the worldly realm. That is, in the midst of war, violence and political instability, we rely on ghostly beings, fictional characters, as well as real-life heroes that emerge from daily struggles to help us translate our fears into triumphant stories of good over evil.
《泛舟于时间停滞之域》 帆布、丙烯、闪光颜料与拼贴 | Rowinga Boat in a Basin Frozen in Time, Acrylic, glitter and collage on canvas | 150 x 90cm (Calendar: 26.7 x 19 cm) 2019
Celebrated for her candy-colored, manga-style canvases that disguise disconcerting social events and personal stories of suffering and loss, Yuree’s new series The Lady on a White Horse reflects on how folklore and mythology affect our daily life and social culture to the point of leading us towards a distorted and, at times, delusive reality. To do so Yuree’s works embrace the iconic pop-culture visual narrative to question, ever so subtly, the validity of representation in art as in life, ultimately reflecting on what we see and believe is in fact an illusion that merely conceals a different truth in the face of human frailty and social resistance to change.
《废托邦的美人鱼》 玻璃纤维、玻璃、树脂、闪光颜料与工业漆 | Mermaid in the Dystopian World, Acrylic, glitter, gold leaf, silver leaf and collage on canvas | 150 x 180 cm 2017
Spanning paintings, silkscreens and sculptures, the main feature of the exhibition is the five-meter long canvas titled, as the show, The Lady on a White Horse. While it depicts the Thai prophecy of a young savior astride a white horse surrounded by menacing beasts, vestiges of the past, and black crows in disguise, the canvas enlarges its parameters to consider the impact of this prophecy on the social and political fabric of present-day Thailand. To this end, among the show’s many works, there is the painting Ceci n’est pas un corbeau noir (“This is not a black crow”) and The Prophecy of 24 March 2019, a silkscreen reproduction of an extract from the Chinese calendar, at the bottom of which bears the prediction of one’s fortune on that day – 24 March 2019 was the day of the first general election in Thailand since 2011 and hence a time for heightened hopes and new possibilities. A nod to René Magritte’s Ceci n’est pas un pipe, Yuree’s Ceci n’est pas un corbeau noir, while referring to the Thai folklore of the white crow as bearer of falsehoods, it explores the concept of representation and the relation between words and common objects and how they are socially perceived and unquestionably accepted through generations.
个展“恐怖氛围”，100 Tonson 艺术空间，曼谷，2016 | ATMOSFEAR, 100 Tonson Gallery, Bangkok, 2016
Invariably incorporating different faiths and religious emblems, the show presents visually engaging and energetic works. Yet underneath her attractive tableaux vivants that meet the audience at first glance is Yuree’s unique ability to contextualize her artistic vision within the current cultural and political uncertainties that are taking hold of society in Thailand and beyond.
《和平的蘑菇云》展览现场，第四届莫斯科国际青年艺术双年展，莫斯科博物馆，莫斯科，2014 | De(er)va of Peace Holding Mushroom Cloud, 4th Moscow international Biennale for Young Art, Museum of Moscow, Moscow, 2014
About artist
YUREE KENSAKU (b.1979) is a Bangkok-based multidisciplinary artist whose works are known for their electrifying colours, rich sense of humour, and candy coated cartoon characters with a dark twist. Wildly entertaining at first glance, Yuree’s works persistently present bold, critical commentary on society, as well as intimate introspection on her personal life as a female artist.
Yuree’s works has featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions both regionally and internationally including The Adventure of Momotaro Girl, Artist in Yokohama Museum of Art (2007); Kuandu Biennale “Memories and Beyond”, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan (2010); The 4th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art “A Time for Dreams”, Museum of Moscow, Russia (2014); When the Elephants Fight, the Grass Gets Trampled, Art Basel Hong Kong (2015); Imaginarium: Over the Ocean, Under the Sea, 8Q, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2016); and Thailand Biennale “Edge of the Wonderland”, Krabi (2018). Her works are included in permanent collections of Mori Art Museum, Singapore Art Museum,Yokohama Museum of Art, and MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, as well as many high profile private collections.
《加卢达的哀悼》展览现场，泰国曼谷文化艺术中心，曼谷，2017 | Garuda Offers Condolences, BACC, Bangkok, 2017
About curator
Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani is an independent curator, writer and lecturer of Southeast Asian contemporary art. Complemented by continuous dialogue with artists and art professionals, her research and curatorial practice revolve around critical sociopolitical issues in Southeast Asia, advocating a counter-hegemonic andnon-Western-centric discourse. Her recent curatorial projects are Pure Land: A Solo Show by Dinh Q Le (2019) with Tang Contemporary Art Bangkok, and Diaspora: Exit, Exile, Exodus of Southeast Asia (2018-19) with MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, for which she edited the accompanying publication, a collection ofessays that examine art and society at the periphery. Past exhibitions include Heads or Tails? Uncertainties and Tensionsin Contemporary Thailand (2017) with Sundaram Tagore Gallery; The Game/Viet Nam by LE Brothers (2016)with Jim Thompson Art Center; and Architectural Landscapes: SEA in the Forefront (2015) with Queens Museum. Loredana’s writings have appeared in numerous academic journals such as Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore; Frames CinemaJournal (University of St Andrews, UK) and New Asian Imaginations (NAFA University, Singapore). She has also contributed to the art discourse in various exhibitions catalogs and art magazines such as COBO Social, Art Republik, Art and Market amongst others. She lives in London, UK, and Bangkok, Thailand.