Friday, November 4, 2016

The Pornography of Politics Revisited

An exhibition by controversial Thai artist Vasan Sitthiket called 10 Evil Scenes of Thai politics 
opened at the Number 1 Gallery in Bangkok on 11 March 2010. 
The above painting is titled Meeting in Parliament.
Signing Contract for Megaproject
Innocent is Justice!
Begging from the Evil Gangster
Unlimited Happiness of a Minister
Stay Poor and Idiotic Forever
Just a Political Game

Vasan Sitthiket (วสันต์ สิทธิเขตต์), born on October 7, 1957 in Nakhon Sawan Province, Thailand, is a contemporary Thai visual artist. A graduate of the College of Fine Art in Bangkok, he works in many fields, including painting and poetry. He has staged three plays, written more than 10 books of poetry, children’s books and political writings.

Active since the 1970s, Vasan's works are often provocative and political in nature. One of his works was a performance art piece, involving fake rubber breasts and buttocks and a simulated rape of the entire nation of Thailand.

In 2000, an exhibition of a new collection that included 50 paintings featuring Thai politicians and military officers in sexually compromising poses was cancelled by Chulalongkorn University, five days before it was to open.

In 2005, he set up the Artist Party, a political art project that mocked the then-ruling Thai Rak Thai party and prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

At the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003, he displayed some large-scale portraits of George W. Bush and other world leaders, created on canvas by using custom-made rubber stamps.

Vasan's media has also included drawings, woodcut prints, ceramic sculpture, installations and performances.

[Source: Wikipedia. First posted 13 September 2012]