In this new body of work, produced specially for exhibition at Valentine Willie Fine Art Singapore, Thai artist, Sutee Kunavichayanont imagines a world without politics. In the context of 21st century Thailand, or indeed today’s globalised setting, where communal strife and wars between nations continue, the prospect of an arena devoid of politics is provocatively ironic and seductive. Implying either a utopian state of harmony that has evolved in the post-political world, or a state of innocence, pre-dating our current, fractious climate created by competing nations, Sutee asks us to consider a world without politics as a means of critiquing the status-quo.
Sutee Kunavichayanont, known for his formally engaging and conceptually sophisticated oeuvre about history, cultural dislocation, and nationalism, in this new single-concept show, explores the meaning of state-building and realpolitik at national and global levels through the deconstruction and reconstruction of national symbols. Toying with flags, maps, and anthems, Sutee, in a largely interactive installation, invites viewers to play with ideas and signs, so pushing them to ponder fundamental questions about their ownership of, and relationship with, the nation-state, and global power structures. The evolving world geo-political map, with its fast changing centres of power, in Sutee’s art, also figures as a metaphor for people and groups’ inclusion and exclusion within the larger majority.
In today’s Singapore, wider Southeast Asia, and indeed world context, the status-quo established by governments is increasingly being challenged, many keen to stand up and exercise individual voice. Responding to this tension, Sutee Kunavichayanont has produced interactive works of art that invite viewers from all backgrounds to participate actively, if metaphorically, in the public arena. Including painting, video, interactive installation, and computer applications available via ipads stationed in the art gallery that allow exhibition-goers to compose their own flags and anthems, The World Without Politics provides thinking, questioning art for newly-enfranchised global citizens.
Curated by Iola Lenzi, The World Without Politics tackles issues crucial to all from a playful perspective that is both intelligent, and accessible.
ARTIST PROFILE
Sutee Kunavichayanont, extensively exhibited for nearly two decades, is one of Thailand’s most critically recognised and influential pioneer contemporary artists. His seminal installations are numerous and include the History Class series, the Eternal Banality series, and the Inflation/Deflation series, all of which are characterised by their interactive, participatory nature, and display in the urban space, outside the gallery. Sutee’s work is represented in the collections of the Singapore Art Museum, The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, The Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia, and the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, amongst other distinguished institutions.
