A collaboration between the BACC and the Performing Artists’ Network, the festival aims to promote performing arts as a bridge between artists and the public, as well as to encourage dialogue and the exchange of ideas between artists and audience.

This year’s event, which continues through December, will feature various types of performances from both local and international artists including live performances, a synthesis of music and drawing experience, workshops, film screening and symposium. Apart from performances, there will also be the artists’ talks and workshops on performing arts and dance. The highlights of this year’s festival include:

– The Bangkok International Children’s Theatre Festival 2018 by Arts on Location and Democrazy Theatre Studio, May 15-27

– The Retreat by Democrazy Theatre Studio, August 1-12

– “Make Love, Not War by Nuttamon Pramsumran, August 30-September 16

– Concerto for Piano and Charcoal by Montien Dept, September 28-30

– “20th Year Performance Practices Archive” Asiatopia International Performance Festival by ASIATOPIA Foundation, October 19-21

– Bangkok Theatre Festival 2018 by Bangkok Theatre Network, November 1–18

– International Dance Festival 2018 by Friends of the Arts Foundation, November 22 November–December 2

– Exodus the 13th International Butoh Festival Thailand 2018by B Floor Theatre December 7– 16

Find out more and join the conversation at http://www.Bacc.or.th and Facebook/baccpage.

MADSAKI (one name only, please) has a lovely smile – for an artist whose trademark is portraits of people weeping. Except that those might not be tears you see.

The Japanese painter-sculptor, in Bangkok last Tuesday for the opening of his exhibition “Combination Platter” at Central Embassy, won’t say what the “runny” eyes signify. He does the eyes with a blast of spray paint, the paint obeys the laws of gravity, and you get a trickle of pigment.

It’s up to the viewer how it’s interpreted, he says, and every interpretation is valid.

Madsaki stands with “Le Reve 2” (2017), offering no apologies at all to Picasso, the original dreamer./courtesy Galerie Perrotin

Madsaki is a rising star in contemporary art, having scored solo shows last year in Tokyo and Seoul and now coming to Bangkok for the first time – and with one massive new piece in tow that’s never been exhibited anywhere else.

This is a five-metre-tall “totem pole” of stacked cartoonish letters spelling out the artist’s name.

Madsaki’s totem pole is being shown for the first time anywhere right here in Bangkok.

Another highlight of the show is a 13-metre-wide painting crowded with his favourite cartoon characters, from the Simpsons and the South Park kids to Little Orphan Annie. Madsaki seems to be defying the laws of copyright with this one.

“It’s kind of a bizarre self-portrait,” he laughed. “This painting was first shown in Vancouver, Canada, and Bangkok is the first city in Asia to see it – it hasn’t even been seen in Japan yet.”

A 13-metre-wide painting from the series “The Character” illustrates the artist’s engagement with pop culture and its symbols.

The show’s title, “Combination Platter”, refers to the artist’s own culturally mixed upbringing, as well as being a nod to a popular choice on Chinese-food takeaway menus in America. Madsaki spent most of his youth in New York, where he graduated from the Parsons School of Design.

In the United States, the great “melting pot” of nationalities and cultures, he developed his street-art attitude and began questioning the premises by which art gains value. He mingles urban graffiti, Hollywood films and comic characters like Doraemon and SpongeBob Square Pants and forges cheeky replications of Picasso and Da Vinci masterpieces.

The result is a dialogue that complicates what initially seems familiar. These are spontaneous creations that mix cultural traditions and storytelling.

“Salvator Mundi 2” (2017) from the “Wannabe” series, which replicates and transforms some of history’s most famous paintings. 

One of Madsaki’s biggest fans is fellow Japanese Takashi Murakami, a relative giant in contemporary art who “fell for him” upon encountering the younger man’s art on Instagram. He bought dozens of his pieces for his personal “Superflat” collection and arranged for last year’s solo exhibition in Tokyo.

Murakami thinks Madsaki “may have bottomless talent”. Madsaki calls Murakami his master – and his boss.

In the “Movie” series, Madsaki extracts scenes from famous films.

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH SCOOPING UP CLASSIC PAINTINGS AND FAMOUS CARTOON CHARACTERS FOR YOUR ORIGINAL PIECES?

I don’t see copying masterpieces and famous comic characters as insulting them at all, but rather as if I’m reinterpreting them as slang words. And I grew up in the US melting pot, where everything is flattened out to be the same, so I think, whether it’s Bugs Bunny or Picasso, it’s all the same.

IS IT HARDER TO EARN A LIVING AS AN ARTIST IN JAPAN OR IN THE STATES?

It’s hard in both places. In the States, if you throw a rock in any direction, you hit an artist. I understand the good and bad sides of both countries. I just pick the good sides and create my own style.

But, yes, it’s tough in both countries. I’m 44 years old. I started painting when I graduated, but my life only really began when I met Murakami two years ago, so before that I was a starving artist. That explains it all.

“Riders on the Storm” (2017), made with acrylic aerosol paint 

TELL US ABOUT THE NAME MADSAKI. IS THERE BOOZE IN THE STORY?

I worked as a bicycle messenger from 1999 to 2003 and after work every day my friends would say, “Let’s go drink mad sake!” [They meant drink a lot of sake.] And they’d say, “It is you, Madsaki!’ and I liked the name.

YOU TAKE A LOT OF INSPIRATION FROM THE MOVIES. WHICH ONE’S YOUR FAVOURITE?

The one I’ve watched most is “Goodfellas” by Martin Scorsese. I’ve seen it over 300 times. I did a painting of the scene where the main character gives his wife a gun.

TELL US ABOUT THE MAMMOTH PAINTING WITH ALL THE CARTOON CHARACTERS.

I grew up watching both Japanese and American cartoons, so I know all

the characters, like Big Bird from “Sesame Street”. That’s where I learned English.

In my painting, Big Bird has the F-word on a sign. He would never use that word, but I like them to do things they wouldn’t normally do. So it’s like a self-portrait in a bizarre way.

Madsaki explains that his name means exactly what you think it does.

DO YOU REPLICATE THE MASTERPIECES FROM MEMORY OR COPY FROM A PICTURE OF THE ORIGINAL?

I make a first draft copying the size and composition exactly. But when I start painting, it becomes my own. The cartoons are done the same way. When I draw, I do it perfectly, but when I’m painting and spraying, it’s just done messily.

There are plenty of artists who can copy masterworks much more beautifully than I can. I’m not interested in painting beautifully or nicely. To me, ugly is beautiful. The funny thing is that, whatever my teachers at univer

sity said I should or shouldn’t do, I always did exactly the opposite.

IS THERE A MESSAGE TO YOUR TRADEMARK TEARDROPS?

It’s just drips. You spray paint on the face and it drips. There is a message, but I would rather the viewers use their

imagination. My art is fun, and I want them to enjoy it.

WHAT FACIAL EXPRESSION IS THE MOST CHALLENGING TO PAINT WITH YOUR SPRAY DOTS?

The two eye-dots and the smiley smile look so easy, but they’re the hardest parts. I save them for last, because you really have to put some emotion into it.

If I’m not feeling anything, I can’t paint. I’ll set it aside for a week or two days, whatever. When I’m in the mood, I’ll do that and the outcome really depends on the mood. Normally, when I’m sad, it comes out quite good.

DO YOU EVER RUN OUT OF INSPIRATION?

If I do, I just go to sleep and say the hell with it. I became a messenger because I got sick of painting and wanted to forget all about art. I was riding a bicycle for eight or nine hours a day for three years, and then I went back to painting.

I take it easy. I’m serious about art, but not that serious. Everything I do, even if it’s not necessarily related to art, can somehow become an inspiration and motivation.

SOUVENIRS  FOR SANITY

While the exhibition continues (through June 3), the store Siwilai is selling limited-edition Madsaki tote bags,

T-shirts, ceramics and skateboard decks.

FEATURING more than 120 works from Singapore and Southeast Asia, the exhibition “(Re) collect: The Making of our Art Collection” showing through August 19 at the National Gallery Singapore paints its own picture of collecting and acquisition. The show peels back the layers of the untold stories behind the gallery’s collection and shows how it is continuing to evolve dynamically two years after opening its doors.

“With a collection of more than 8,600 visual artworks, the National Gallery Singapore continues to delve deep and uncover stories behind these works that are representative of the zeitgeist of the century,” says its director Eugene Tan.

“The diversity and inclusiveness characterise and differentiate our collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian works, opening up possibilities to connect artistic practices beyond national boundaries. This has allowed us to continue the endeavour in questioning and re-imagining what constitutes Southeast Asia through art, and through this come to understand our region’s heritage better. This would not be possible without the goodwill of the artists and private collectors who donated their precious works to us.”

Cheo Chai Hiang’s “And Miles to Go before I Sleep”, 1975 / courtesy of National Gallery Singapore

With seven different sections to the exhibition, visitors will be led on a journey that begins during post-war Singapore when art took a backseat to nation building. Here, they can witness the important milestones that led to the crystallisation of Singapore’s visual arts collection as well as how it developed as its custodianship shifted from the National Museum Art Gallery (NMAG) in 1976 to Singapore Art Museum in 1996 and to the present day National Gallery Singapore which opened in 2015.

The story begins when Dato Loke Wan Tho, a leading philanthropist, and co-founder of the Cathay Organisation, donated more than 110 works from his personal collection to Singapore in 1960, with the wish that they would eventually be housed in a new art gallery. This donation formed Singapore’s seedling collection of visual art, with the first registered artwork titled “Self-Portrait” by Chuah Thean Teng.

Georgette Chen’s “Family Portrait”, 1954 /courtesy of National Gallery Singapore​​​​​​​

Dato Loke’s wish came true with the opening of the National Museum Art Gallery, which marked a concerted effort by a state-level institution to collect and display works of art for the first time. Several works from NMAG’s inaugural exhibition donated by artists will be on display at the exhibition including “And Miles to Go before I Sleep” by Singaporean artist Cheo Chai Hiang, a conceptual work comprising found objects, among them a log and a wooden laundry board bearing an excerpt from a renowned poem by Robert Frost.

Other sections will highlight key characteristics of the gallery’s collection. They include works by Singapore’s artistic forerunners like Lim Hak Tai, Georgette Chen, Cheong Soo Pieng, as well as works engaging with aesthetics of ink painting by Lim Tze Peng, Chen Wen Hsi, Tan Oe Pang and Zao Wou-Ki. Also featured is the gallery’s new collecting focus on photography, a medium historically under-represented in the collection.

Thai artist Navin Rawanchaikul’s installation of 11 towers consists of 11,000 medical bottles /courtesy of National Gallery Singapore

Support from private donors, organisations, artists, artists’ estates and families through artwork donations, as well as the gallery’s Art Adoption and Acquisition (AAA) Programme, is critical to the building of the collection. This is highlighted through the gallery’s collection of Georgette Chen’s artworks and personal documents, built up over the years by donations and the Lee Foundation. A part of this collection is on display in the exhibition, including Chen’s Family Portrait. The names of more than 400 past artwork donors and participants of the AAA programme are acknowledged in this exhibition, which demonstrates the tremendous level of support received in building the collection.

Visitors can also look forward to getting up close to recent important acquisitions by the gallery, among them Singaporean artist Kim Lim’s “Abacus” (1959), “Pegasus” (1962) and “Naga” (1984), which will be shown together for the first time; as well as early works by Malaysian artist Latiff Mohidin, who recently became the first Southeast Asian artist to have a solo exhibition at Centre Pompidou’s In-Focus Gallery as part of National Gallery Singapore’s inaugural travelling show.

Rirkrit Tiravanija’s untitled work, 2014-2017 /courtesy of National Gallery Singapore

In the final section of the exhibition, visitors will be able to explore the selective approach to collecting contemporary art. The gallery’s focus on drawing historical paths between works in the collection is manifested through a display of three major works by Thai artists of varying cultural backgrounds and generations – Montien Boonma, Navin Rawanchaikul and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Navin’s stirring installation of 11 towers consists of 11,000 medical bottles, half of them containing black and white photographs of the elderly, which the artist painstakingly documented.

“This is our first attempt at coming face-to-face with the history of our collection. Our aim is to make the collecting history and acquisition practice by the Gallery more visible to the public. As a custodian of the world’s largest collection of 19th and 20th century art of Southeast Asia, we have an important responsibility to conduct research into our collection, understand where we come from, and identify the ways in which we can build the collection further for generations to come. We hope that this exhibition will enable a deeper appreciation of our National Collection and inspire interests in the layers of histories, memories and current practices that inform the building of a collection. The display complements our long-term exhibitions at the DBS Singapore Gallery and UOB Southeast Asia Gallery,” says exhibition curator Horikawa Lisa.

The exhibition continues until August 19 at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery B and C of the National Gallery Singapore.

For more information, visit http://www.NationalGallery.sg

The Culture Ministry’s National Archives will for the first time display a collection of century-old royal photographic glass-plate negatives and original prints recording the old Siam.

The collection was last December designated as a “Memory of the World” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

The show, entitled “Celebrating the National Glass Plate Negatives Recognised as a Unesco Memory of the World” will take place at the National Gallery from May 25 to July 26. Funded by Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd, the Bt4-million-show is being curated by veteran photographer Nitikorn Kraivixien of ThaiBev. Nitikorn annualy handles HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s photography show at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

The exhibition will feature 150 reprinted photographs in various sizes spread over eight rooms. Displayed from ceiling to floor, with some images as tall as 1.5 metres, the show aims to make historic Siam come to life. Samples of the original glass-plate negatives will also be on display.

The show will look at old Siam through eight lenses: Siam through glass-plate negatives, national symbols, royal ceremonies and historical events, the Kingdom’s development, culture and tradition, historic places, influential people, and Siam and the world.

The Unesco website trumpets the Collection for documenting the important transformations underway in Siam at a time of massive worldwide change – from the era of the West’s colonisation of Asia, through the years of World War I, and the aftermath of the war as it affected Siam and led to the dawn of a constitutional monarchy.

Stored at the National Archive, the Royal Collection holds almost 35,427 glass plate negatives and 50,000 prints, covering a long and continuous period from 1855-1935.

The collection was previously preserved in the three separate royal libraries of their original owners – King Chulalongkorn, King Vajiravudh and Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, King Mongkut’s son. In 1977, they were given over to the care of the National Archive in Bangkok. To date, 24,800 plates have been scanned for digital use, and 4,149 plates have been included in the national database.

The Royal Collection is the fifth heritage archives from Thailand recognised by Unesco.

The figure eclipsed the previous record held by the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge which sold for $484 million in 2009.

Coming after the extraordinary $450 million sale last November of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” also at Christie’s, there had been some speculation that the billion dollar threshold could be crossed by this sale.

Organized over 10 days, including online sales, it nonetheless broke numerous records, testament to the rude health of the global art market.

The collection’s crown jewel was auctioned Tuesday for $115 million, the sixth most expensive ever sold: Pablo Picasso’s “La fillette a la corbeille fleurie,” a part of the Rockefeller Collection since 1968.

Claude Monet’s “Nympheas en fleurs” fetched $84.6 million, a new record for the French impressionist master, surpassing a previous high of $81.4 million.

The auction also saw a record breaking sale for Henri Matisse’s “Odalisque couchée aux magnolias,” which went for $80.7 million.

Latin American art meanwhile also hit a new peak with the sale of Diego Rivera’s “Los Rivales” for $9.7 million, a new record for art from the region.

David Rockefeller, the grandson of the legendary magnate John Rockefeller, died last year aged 101, more than 20 years after the death of his wife Peggy.

He had embraced his family’s tradition of philanthropy and inherited his taste in art from his mother, who co-founded New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

The proceeds will go to a series of nonprofit organizations, including David Rockefeller’s alma mater Harvard University, as well as Maine National Park, which was beloved by the family and to which he donated a thousand acres for his 100th birthday.