Less is OK: a retrospective posthumous exhibition celebrating the life of Chavalit Soemprungsuk (1939-2020)
A retrospective posthumous exhibition celebrating the life of Chavalit Soemprungsuk (1939-2020). Works and materials in this exhibition follow Chavalit Soemprungsuk from a young age to his last moments, and what he left behind for us.
Artist: Chavalit Soemprungsuk, Venue: Galeria I, River City Bangkok, Period: March 12th – April 27th 2022
How content and fulfilling the artist’s life must be, to be able to create artwork with such precision and simplicity, and perceive its perfection and completion. In Less is OK, a posthumous exhibition of Chavalit Soemprungsuk, we take viewers on a journey that goes beyond the artwork and explores various angles of the artist’s life.
Aspects range from his dedication to art, his energy, openness to new ideas, to support of younger artists. Additionally, there are more personal qualities that many may not be familiar with, from his relationships, his unique fashion sense, his quick humor and sometimes cheekiness, to his forthrightness, sharpness, and fast wit. These are aspects that many who had known him love as part of his charm and character, while others might experience them for the first time in this exhibition.
Works and materials in this exhibition follow Chavalit Soemprungsuk from a young age to his last moments, and what he left behind for us. He lived life to the fullest, with no regrets, to create artwork that is so pure and simple. Lines, form, and colors were derived directly from his thoughts, senses, and emotions. For Soemprungsuk, his whole life and work is not ‘less is more’ but ‘less is OK’.
Chavalit Soemprungsuk (1939-2020) was a visual artist based in Thailand and the Netherlands. He graduated from the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture, and Graphic Art in 1962 and was a student of Silpa Bhirasri. He then received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of the Netherlands to attend the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and eventually became the first and only Thai artist who earned the accolade as a national artist of the Netherlands.
His art practice started with realistic styles while in Thailand, and gradually became more abstract, focusing on geometric forms, lines, and colors. He has worked with various media such as painting, drawing, printing, sculpture and mixed media.
In his exhibition, ‘In Amsterdam with Chavalit Soemprungsuk’ 2013, he donated over 4000 pieces of his work and collections to the Thai government. For the last decade of his life, Soemprungsuk has switched from making physical art pieces to digital works displayed through social media platforms. He later started producing tangible digital prints. Part of these works was exhibited at the ‘80+ Art Festival Thailand’, to celebrate the artist’s career at his 80th year of age. It was considered the last exhibition of his life. He passed away in April 2020 while working on an exhibition at MOCA Bangkok, which later continued after his death.
Chavalit Soemprungsuk was honored with the title of National Artist in Visual Arts (Painting) in 2014. He is currently considered a leading artist in the field of abstract art and non-objective art and one of the most prominent figures of modern art in Thailand.
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