Feb. 6, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Barbara Morningstar
(805) 756-1571
Thai Artists To Be Featured At Cal Poly University Art Gallery Feb. 11- Mar. 9
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Four artists,
all faculty members from Silpakorn
University in Bangkok, Thailand, will exhibit their work -- from cast
glass to video projection -- in an exhibit to run Feb. 11 through March
9 in Cal Poly's University Art Gallery.
The exhibit is titled "Pacific Cross
Currents." A talk and opening
reception are planned from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 11, also in the University
Art Gallery.
Vichoke Mukdamanee, a member of
the painting faculty at Silpakorn
University, will describe Thai art in general and the featured work of
his colleagues Vichai Sithiratn, Amrit Chusuwan, Saravuth Duangjumpa
and Adool Booncham.
Vichai Sithiratn's cast glass work,
titled "Mind to Mind, Dharma to
Dharma" will be featured.
"Vichai's installation of clear glass Buddhas are intended to help lead
people to behave positively," explained Barbara Morningstar coordinator
of the University Art Gallery. "He says he is convinced that 'such a
path will in turn lead to a serene mind and the birth of wisdom.' "
Chusuwan's installation, "Silent
Communication," features video
projection and two-sided mirrors with the image of Buddha and a real
person staring at each other.
"At certain angles and distances,
one will see the face of Buddha and
the person merging with each other," Morningstar said. "At other
distances and angles, the two images are separated. Amrit's work is a
reflection of communication that inspires the viewer's imagination in
regard to a 'dialogue' between man and priest."
Saravuth Duangjumpa's installation
concerns sound and human
communication.
"His 'Sound Walls' demonstrate how human beings communicate and how
sounds come into existence," Morningstar said. "Saravuth brings images
of sound, -- some boisterously echoing each other and some expressing a
wide range of mood and emotions."
Booncham's work deals with attachments and death.
"As a Thai artist," Morningstar
said, "Adool believes the living can
deliver things they wish to send acquaintances, loved ones or
benefactors in the 'other world.' Adool thus creates forms, such as
balloons tied to pillows, to show how objects could float to intended
people in the 'new world.'"
Pacific Cross Currents is part of
an exchange of Thai and American art
that was exhibited in Bangkok during the summer of 2002 at Silpakorn
University. During that exchange several artists from Cal Poly's Art
and Design Department faculty visited Bangkok to be part of the
exhibit. The Cal Poly faculty members who participated were Sky
Bergman, Tera Galanti, Michael Barton Miller and George Jercich.
The University Art Gallery, in the
Dexter Building, is open 11 a.m.-4
p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and 7-9 p.m. Wednesday. For more
information, contact the University Art Gallery at 756-1571 or 756-6038.
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