The art gallery

The entire groundfloor of the Chinese House is dedicated to art exhibitions.

16.12.09 – 03.01.10

Amnesia

Paintings by Denis Laurent

The Chinese House is proud to present an exhibition by French artist Denis Laurent. His passion for art and painting makes his work extremely personal and his rare exhibitions are an atypical glimpse into his mind. The strong black and red colours in his paintings were inspired by a visit to Beijing while visiting his daughter, which led him to choose the Chinese House as the perfect venue to display his work.

Aged 10, the young artist’s first present is an oil paintbox. His first tentative paintings will soon turn into a lifelong passion. After graduating in Pharmacy and Biology in 1985, Denis Laurent takes up painting again, starting with stylized India inks on large canvasses. Very soon, the artist feels the urge to take on the challenge of painting in colors and will rapidly develop a passion for painting in oils.

As an autodidact, he draws his inspiration from the many Parisian exhibits he attends. His early work is influenced by themes dear to Salvador Dali while his sense of colors owes a lot to Marc Chagall, Le Greco, Soutine and Van Gogh.... His discovery of painters such as Picasso, Tamayo, Picabia and Braque sharpens his sense of composition. The artist then progressively turns to abstract art (Nicolas De Stael, Poliakoff, Rotko ...), which will soon become his favorite form of expression. His admiration for modern sculptors (Rodin, Giacometti, Tinguely, Moore...) will further strengthen his interest in colors and texture.

12.11.09 – 22.11.09

Phnom Penh Photo, in partnership with the CCF

Photos by Luo Dan

How to give an account of a country as huge as China, even for someone Chinese? The young photographer Luo Dan offers a completely original plan and a most unusual result. As he loves being on the road, walking, letting him travel in the hope of encounters and surprises, he traveled all over his country, for tens of thousands of kilometers, from North to South, and by Road 318, from East to West, from Shanghai to Tibet.

In our imagination, when we say China, we think of crowds. In Luo Dan’s world, where everything is managed with infinite delicacy, in soft and calm shades – which make everything stranger – the characters are always alone. We are in another world, far from any cliché.

12.11.09 – 22.11.09

Chasing the Dragon

Paintings by Christian Develter

Christian Develter, who moved to Bangkok in 1996, is known throughout Asia, for his unusual combination of bright colors and the mystery he creates in his portraits of men and women. The artist often celebrates the decadence and sophistication of a bygone era in Asia and he is also increasingly known for portraits of Asian artists today.

Develter, who is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Institute of Fine Arts in Belgium, reluctantly describes his work as semi-abstract meets Pop art. His work is on show at a number of top Asian venues including a permanent display at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok.

“Today, its art scene is re-emerging. And there is significant local talent to support it. I’m happy to be invited back and to contribute to Phnom Penh’s place on the Asian art map. My first exhibition was a tribute to the beauty of Khmer women, but this time I will show Chinese-inspired portraits, I look forward to seeing them installed at the Chinese House.“

Develter’s paintings include portraits of Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and famous Chinese Divas, past and present. Also included in the exhibition will be limited edition lithographs.

17.10.09 – 25.10.09

Golden Reawakening

1960's Cambodian film festival and exhibition

From 1960 to 1975, Cambodian film studios produced more than 350 films and there were about 30 movie theatres in Phnom Penh. Today, only 33 films remain available. Lux Theatre is the last surviving movie theatre. Only a few directors and film stars survived the Khmer Rouge Regime.

This event will introduce the golden era of Cambodian films through biographies, photos and posters of the greatest actors, filmmakers and films. This special event serves as a link between generations and brings together a number of surviving directors and film stars from 1960 to 1975 with many talented young artists from today’s art scene.

More than 20 Cambodian artists have created paintings, photographs, drawings and an architectural model based on fragmented memories and limited documentation. During the festival, 11 films from this golden period will be screened with commentaries from legendary filmmakers Ly Bun Yim, Yvon Hem and Ly You Sreang and the legendary film star Dy Saveth.

The organizers are honored to receive permission from HM King-Father Norodom Sihanouk to screen his film “Twilight” (1968) which HM has chosen for the festival. The 11 films include masterpieces “Twelve sisters” by Ly Bun Yim and “The Snake Man” by Tea Lim Koun (who many of us have lost touch with and we have discovered him alive in Canada three weeks ago).

Kon Khmer Koun Khmer recently produced “The Twin Diamonds” screened at Lux cinema earlier this month, and is led by Davy Chou, a young French filmmaker whose grandfather, Van Chann, was one of the greatest film producers in Cambodia in the 1960s. The exhibition will open every day at 3:00 PM and the films (free entrance) will be screened at 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Special guests Mr. Ly Bun Yim and Mrs. Dy Saveth will attend the opening.

01.10.09 – 15.10.09

Lady Story

Paintings by Attasit Pokpong

Born in 1977 in Thailand, Attasit Pokpong is one of the preeminent artists of the Bangkok contemporary art scene. Attasit has won prestigious awards for his work in his home country. After showing his work in Asia and the United Kingdom for the past 15 years, the artist is now coming for the first time to Cambodia. He is also preparing solo exhibitions scheduled in New York and Paris for this winter.

The exhibition on show at the Chinese House is comprised of large portraits of women, many of which are close to two meters in width and height. A blend of vivid and pale colours, his paintings stick to the eyes and to the mind.

22.09.09 – 29.09.09

Khmer Standoff (at Preah Vihear)

Photos by Eric de Vries

More than 1 year after the clash Cambodian soldiers are still present on top of Preah Vihear, keeping an eye on their Thai collegues from a distance. Borderlines have been set and are controlled by both parties. Daily life for the Khmer soldiers means posting at scheduled times and growing vegetables next to sandbag-prepared bunkers. Boredom sets in and to occupy themselves they turn their hand to amateur hairdressing to keep each other looking the part. Although the soldiers have plenty of time to set and contemplate their presence at the much disputed temple site, they need to maintain their weapons as the threat of a Thai foray over the border keeps them constantly alert... Dutch photographer Eric de Vries is living in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the country he's been travelling since 2000. He produced several series, most of them in black and white. Khmer Islam, Hello Darling and Khmer Standoff are his latest series. He also opened his 4FACES gallery in Siem Reap this year and became member of Asia Motion, a Phnom Penh-based photo agency.

www.ericdevries.nl
www.asiamotion.net

20.08.09 – 06.09.09

30 Years for a Trial

Photo by John Vink - Magnum Photographer

Since 1989, John Vink has been involved with Cambodia. His engagement with the country over the last 2 decades has led him to document the genesis of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC – the Tribunal), a national Cambodian court with a statutory mandate to bring to justice surviving senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and those who were most responsible for atrocity crimes during the Khmer Rouge regime (April 17, 1975 to January 6, 1979). The Tribunal seeks to put to rest 1.7 million souls – disturbed by the years of the Khmer Rouge’s brutal regime. The exhibition documents the confrontation by modern Cambodia of the last 30 years. Cambodia will never be able to completely escape the brutality of the Khmer Rouge’s brutal regime. Through the Tribunal, it is finally confronting this past in order to move on.

Photographs in the exhibition include photographs of places, memories, and ongoings of the tribunal.

14.05.09 – 24.05.09

EXHALE

Sculptures by Meas SOKHORN

Meas Sokhorm is a talented artist and a leader in the Cambodian emerging art scene. Recently his sculpture from the Exhale series was selected as a finalist for the Signature Art Prize and exhibited by the Singapore Art Museum.

The Exhale exhibition is created by JavaArts, with support from The Chinese House.

4.02.09 - 14.02.09

Tibetan Thangkas

A collection of XXth century Thangkas, put together by the Galerie Ganesha, Siem Reap.

Thangkas

The thangka is a traditional Tibetan form of religious art whose subject includes Buddhas,boddhisattvas, meditational deities, great teachers and mandalas. Most thangkas are scroll paintings usually framed in rich colorful silk brocade and have a thin veil covering the front surfaced.

The story of thangkas goes back to the 7th century when King Stron-btsan-sgam-po married a Nepalese and a Chinese princess, both of whom brought Buddhist books, sculptures and thangkas in their dowries. Stron-btsan-sgam-po adopted Buddhism, installed it as the state religion and patronized the art of making thangkas.

Tibetans have always considered the thangkas a treasure of tremendous value. To prepare the surface to paint, the canvas is covered with a water based colloid chalk or animalglue on the surface. It is polished when dried with a conch shell until the requisite sheen and smoothness are obtained. The canvas is thus ready for painting.

Canonical rules for making thangkas paintings must be obeyed strictly. The day and time of commencement of the painting and the drawing of the eyes are fixed according to Tibetan astrological predictions (based on an amalgamation of Indian and Chinese calculations).

It is common that several people work on the same thangka. Generally some students paint the landscape, others the flowers, clouds and trees, while the masters work only on the deities.

The very last things to be painted in a Thangka are the eyes. It is said that a thangka has opened its eyes after they have been made. Then only the thangkas is considered as sacred.

The pigments used in making thangkas come from plants or minerals, mixed with lime and glue. The predominant colors are lime white, indigo (from plant), blue from lapis lazuli stone, arsenic yellow, vitriol green, vermillion red and gold powder.

Mandalas

In its most common form, the mandala appears as a series of concentric circles, its deities housed in a square structure with four elaborate gates, sometimes described as a four-sided palace or temple. Beginning with the outer circles, one often finds the following structure: a ring of fire, frequently depicted as stylized scrollwork which symbolizes the process of transformation necessary to enter the sacred territory within.

This is followed by a ring of thunderbolt or diamond scepters (vajra), indicating the diamond-like, unchangeable nature of the mandala's spiritual realms. It can be used as a visual aid for concentration and meditation introversive leading to the development of intuition and the activation of forces.

There are many types and varieties of mandalas depending on the nature of divinity Central. Being a sacred ritual offering, thangkas are considered above the artist and never signed. Nor are they dated. Hence their antiquity is difficult to establish. The oldest thangkas existing today are believed to date back to the 10th century.

25.01.09 - 3.02.09

CHINA REVISITED

Collection of Steel Engravings on China

The Exhibition entitled “China Revisited” comprises over 40 original

steel engravings and Woodcut Block Prints of China most of which are more than 150 years old and form part of a private collection of rare antique prints of Asia.

The bulk of the collection comes from Thomas Allom’s (13 March1804 - 21 August 1872) highly regarded book of Steel Engraved prints entitled China Illustrated which offered a rare glimpse into the landscapes, architecture and customs of 19^th Century China. Allom, a topographical illustrator and artist was also a famed British architect and founding member of the Royal Academy of British Architects (RIBA) Through several extended trips to China in the early 1840’s he captured an almost photographic like view of the exotic country and contributed 100’s of highly detailed drawings for the four-volume series.

The creation of a steel engraved print is a highly skilled and artistic process originally developed for printing banknotes by the American inventor Jacob Perkins in 1792. The techniques were quickly adapted by explorers and travelers of the day such as T. Allom, Charles Warrant, Charles Heath and Thomas Campbell as a way of reproducing a visual record of their journeys.

Also on display will be a selection of original newspaper prints of China from the Illustrated London News (ILN) and Le Tour du Monde.

The ILN, which was first published in Britain in1842, was considered the finest example of a historic social record of world events. It remained the leading illustrated paper of record throughout the 19^th century Le Tour du Monde was a similarly highly regarded French journal from the same era.

These prints were mostly made by the Wood-Block Engraving Process that was adopted by newspapers across Europe and the United States prior to the introduction of photographs.

These detailed Steel Engravings and assorted Prints are increasingly rare and collectible because of their expert rendering and because of their ability to capture a moment in Chinese history so well.

14.01.09 - 23.24.09

Monkhor Erdenebayar

Travels of Red Horses

Monkhor Erdenebayar who goes by the name of“BAYAR”, a famous contemporary artist from Mongolia, will hold an international solo exhibition at the recently opened Chinese House.

The thing that separates his work from that of other Mongolian artists is his modern twist on traditional subject matter. Bayar's paintings depict boxy, cubist horses with heavy outlines. Bayar studied at the Fine Arts College and the Fine Arts University in Ulaan Baatar, where he moved when he was 16....

29.11.08 - 21.12.08

Wang Gang

the Yi in the wild

Wang Gang’s portraits of the Yi in the wild show them as they are: the aptitude for merging oneself in total fusion with the elements, with the animal and the vegetal worlds, the Yi people’s intimate connection with Mother Nature characterizes Wang Gang’s love of freedom and his disregard for conventions.

In his keen sense of empathy for the Yi, Wang Gang delicately depicts their soul under the “charwa”. These capes woven to keep them warm and dry in those cold and rainy mountain areas of Greater Liangshan add a poignant visual effect to the melancholic expressions of the young and the old. We can see them however as angels. Black angels. White angels. These capes are their wings. This young shepherd on his stomach with his feet dangling happily in the air seems to be levitating over a spectacular valley. This other black angel standing on a stone is ready to take off. They give the whole series a remarkable spiritual uplift.

Jean Loh, Curator, October 2008

Biography:

Born Dec 7, 1969 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province China

Education: South China University of Technology, dropped out to study history and French existentialism by himself, worked also as interpreter and tour guide

Entrepreneur: investment in entertainment business, film and television, advertising, internet games and mining

Photography career: started professional photography early 2006

Winner of 2006 World Press Photo second prize category portrait.