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Lot Essay
“It is a crisis that strikes at the heart of some of our most treasured illusions, those which have sustained us for centuries and that only we Thais can understand in the context of our own society and our own cultural beliefs.”
-Natee Utarit, 2010
Widely acknowledged and respected as one of the most visually striking and compelling contemporary Southeast Asian artists in recent years, the popularity of Natee Utarit's works across Europe and Asia can be traced to the distinctive visual impact and complexity of his art, which references Western art history and Classicism and conveys the complexity of modern issues and the multifarious nature of 'truth' today.
Produced as part of the artist's 2010 Illustration of the Crisis series, Economy Lesson showcases the symbolic language and dialogue of objects portrayed by the artist, who mixes elements of reality and fiction, combing found objects such as mirrors with plastic toys, anatomy models and plastic animals figures. In the work, symptoms of the crisis are visible in the depiction of a cross-section anatomy of a toy pig, a figure that functions as a metaphor of Thai society and life, illustrating the 'truth' and 'reality' of life that people are rarely aware of. Just as a pig's physicality is one of pink-hued skin and a smooth and chubby outer appearance, so what lies under its surface is that of 'unsightly' skeletal constructions and organs, an opposite but truer side to the inner workings of life.
Here, Utarit expounds a critique on the construction of an image of happiness and perfection that is little more than a thin veneer plastered over a foundation of sadness, fear and anxiety over a future that we would not speak of – a future riddled with political, social and economical crises. It is a lesson to be learnt (as referenced in the title) on the fragmentation of the state of a country, where truth and reality are often muddled by illusions of perfection and idealism.
In Economy Lesson, the viewer is made to come to terms with Utarit's stance on social issues, confronting symbols of Thai society and politics with universal human themes. Just as how the animals stand as metaphors for various human behaviours, thoughts and emotions, so Natee's work ultimately calls for the eschewing of surface illusions in favour of the appreciation and understanding of art and reality as an integrated whole.
-Natee Utarit, 2010
Widely acknowledged and respected as one of the most visually striking and compelling contemporary Southeast Asian artists in recent years, the popularity of Natee Utarit's works across Europe and Asia can be traced to the distinctive visual impact and complexity of his art, which references Western art history and Classicism and conveys the complexity of modern issues and the multifarious nature of 'truth' today.
Produced as part of the artist's 2010 Illustration of the Crisis series, Economy Lesson showcases the symbolic language and dialogue of objects portrayed by the artist, who mixes elements of reality and fiction, combing found objects such as mirrors with plastic toys, anatomy models and plastic animals figures. In the work, symptoms of the crisis are visible in the depiction of a cross-section anatomy of a toy pig, a figure that functions as a metaphor of Thai society and life, illustrating the 'truth' and 'reality' of life that people are rarely aware of. Just as a pig's physicality is one of pink-hued skin and a smooth and chubby outer appearance, so what lies under its surface is that of 'unsightly' skeletal constructions and organs, an opposite but truer side to the inner workings of life.
Here, Utarit expounds a critique on the construction of an image of happiness and perfection that is little more than a thin veneer plastered over a foundation of sadness, fear and anxiety over a future that we would not speak of – a future riddled with political, social and economical crises. It is a lesson to be learnt (as referenced in the title) on the fragmentation of the state of a country, where truth and reality are often muddled by illusions of perfection and idealism.
In Economy Lesson, the viewer is made to come to terms with Utarit's stance on social issues, confronting symbols of Thai society and politics with universal human themes. Just as how the animals stand as metaphors for various human behaviours, thoughts and emotions, so Natee's work ultimately calls for the eschewing of surface illusions in favour of the appreciation and understanding of art and reality as an integrated whole.