Exhibitions in Southeast Asia
By Jaclyn Chong

Here are a number of exhibitions in Southeast Asia that are on our radar for the month of March:

Tawatchai Puntusawasdi, ‘Diagram for Haumea’, 2016, drawing on Xerox paper, 80.5 x 188cm. Image courtesy of A+ Works of Art. Photo by Damien Khoo.

‘Superfold’ at A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur

Tawatchai Puntusawasdi will showcase his preliminary body of works in an exhibition curated by Vipash Purichanont. This includes sketches, metal plate etching, prototypes and experiments for artworks, some of which have been included in the 2018 Bangkok Biennale and the blockbuster show ‘Minimalism: Space. Light. Object.’ at the National Gallery Singapore.

14 March to 6 April

Ivan Lam, ‘At Your Good Service’, 2018, oil on canvas and pentelic marble, 75 x 150 x 8cm. Image courtesy of Wei-Ling Contemporary.

‘FAUX’ at Wei-Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur

Ivan Lam’s solo exhibition ‘FAUX’ is a series of nine new pieces that questions tensions between real and artificial threads of knowledge. As he immortalises flowers in still life paintings, he places them alongside manmade stone, exploring a phenomenon in contemporary society where we become unable to differentiate between truth and fiction.

21 February to 2 April

Navin Rawanchaikul, ‘Lotus Sound < > There is No Voice’, 2019, glass bottles, dust collected from O.K. Store, (1984-2015) and wood ashes collected from Navin Production’s Body Temple (2015) on paper, 92 x 127 x 10cm. Image courtesy of Bangkok CityCity Gallery.

‘Revisited < > Departed’ at Bangkok CityCity Gallery, Bangkok

‘Revisted < > Departed’ is based on letters that Rawin Nawanchaikul penned to two key figures in his life: his father, and his late teacher Thai artist Montien Boonma. Framed as a performance of revisiting what has departed, the letters to Boonma from 2010, 2013 and 2018 serve as a focal point for the exhibition in rewriting or re-reading what has happened.

15 February to 7 April

‘Machine is Nature’, Installation view. Image courtesy of The Factory.

‘Machine is Nature’ at The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City

The Factory together with Inlen Photo Gallery present ‘Machine is Nature’, featuring 15 artists from Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, China and the United Kingdom. Looking at how machines have become “nature”, the exhibition is divided into four broad themes: ‘Matters’, ‘Manipulations’, ‘Mechascapes’ and ‘Ruminations’. Along these themes are moving images and photographs that lead us through the life cycle of the past, present and future.

22 February to 21 April

Design by Reborn, ‘ilo the 5 headed synthetic dreamer’, 2019. Image courtesy of Vin Gallery.

‘Robots and Flying Machines’ at Vin Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City

Design by Reborn present ‘Robots and Flying Machines’ at Vin Gallery. A conceptual art studio, they take forgotten objects and refashion them into contemporary art forms. With a uniquely quotidian take on the not-so-distant future, the sculptural objects are embellished with Old Vietnamese motifs and draw from patterns of wooden windows and metal grilles.

1 March to 19 April

Haryadi Suadi and Radi Arwinda, ‘BADRAHINI’, 2014, embroidery on canvas, 150 x 180cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Salihara Gallery.

‘Bandung Axis’ at Salihara Gallery, Jakarta

Presented by ARTSociates and Komunitas Salihara, ‘Bandung Axis’ marks a timely look into the development of the Bandung School or “Mazhab Bandung”, a term first used by researcher Claire Holt in 1967. The exhibition looks at how a “contemporary” practice and the origins of abstract art in Indonesia has its historical roots in modernising “traditional principles”. This will be complemented by talks and discussions with key figures from the Bandung School.

3 March to 1 April

Aditya Novali, ‘Abstract Logic: Mooi In(Die) series - Tomorrow (Deconstruction #1, #2, #3)’, 2019, plexiglass, ink, wood, multi board, zinc, 81 x 81 x 10cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

‘Assemblage’ at Lawangwangi Creative Space, Bandung

Following the broad overview of practices from the Bandung School, this exhibition at Lawangwangi Creative Space examines works by past and present finalists of the Bandung Contemporary Art Award (BaCAA). Currently in its 5th edition, the award recognises the initiatives of artists working across mediums from the analog to the digital.

22 February to 22 March

Geraldine Javier, ‘838/1.5’, 2018-2019, transfer, acrylic, wax, encaustic on canvas, 304.8 x 243.84cm. Image courtesy of Silverlens Galleries.

‘+63 +62’ at Silverlens Galleries, Manila

‘+63 +62’ at Silverlens Galleries shows the works of contemporary Indonesian and Filipino artists Agus Suwage, Melati Suryodarmo, Geraldine Javer and Leslie de Chavez. These artists have moved out of major cities to establish their own studios and communities. The works presented form an exploration into identities forged beyond national borderlines.

16 February to 16 March