Pink, Black & Blue
A Solo Exhibition by Manit Sriwanichpoom
Curated by Akkara Naktamna
11 February - 9 April 2023
We used to decipher colour more deeply: green with envy, pink with pleasure, red with shame. We are bruised black and blue.
Colour divides us even as it unites – into us and them; black and white, red and blue, red and yellow. Such artificially-induced divisions to conquer have left many people too mentally exhausted to maintain any degree of awareness or even to care about human survival, let alone art. It’s become easy to forget that colour in its pure vibrational form, unburdened by preconception and man-made context, is energy, with the power to heal and free us from obscure emotional conflict through a sort of pleasurable catharsis. Colour is instant drama, beyond words and shapes, beyond touch, colour saturates the brain and clarifies the heart.
The worldwide imprisonment of the pandemic lockdown gave photo-artist Manit Sriwanichpoom the quiet time he needed to complete the long-overdue compilation of his iconic Pink Man series, as well as two other books of previously unseen work of extraordinary intensity: the transcendental ‘I Saw A Blue Wing’ and the dark joy of ‘When I Was Twenty’.
A rare visual feast, ‘Pink, Black & Blue’ is an exhibition comprising works from all three collections.
About the Artist
Manit Sriwanichpoom (B.1961 in Bangkok, Thailand)
One of the pioneers of Thailand’s contemporary photography. His social and political works have been exhibited worldwide including important photo and art festivals such as Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival (China, 2022), RAY Fotografieprojekte (Frankfurt, 2012), the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial (Australia, 2009), Photoquai (Paris, 2007), Gwangju Biennale (Korea, 2006), the Venice Biennale (2003), Photo Espana (2001), Pingyao International Photography Festival (China, 2001), International Photography Biennale (Mexico, 1999), and also collected by major museums including the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (Paris), the DG Bank (Germany), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (USA), the Queensland Art Gallery (Australia), the National Gallery of Australia, the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (Japan), the National Gallery Singapore, the Singapore Art Museum and well-known private collectors.
In 2002 he was picked as one of the world’s 100 most interesting emerging photographers by Phaidon Press in their book BLINK. In 2007 he was awarded the Higashikawa Overseas Photographer Prize from Japan and in 2014 the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by French Ministry of Culture & Communication. Lately in 2020 his photo book ‘Bangkok in Technicolor’ was awarded the Asia Prize by Photo City Sagamihara, Japan. Currently, he is a member of the executive committee of Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (BACC). He also runs two art spaces; ‘Kathmandu Photo Gallery’ and ‘Foundation Cinema Oasis’, and teaches photography at the faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University.
About the Curator
Akkara Naktamna (B.1979 in Bangkok, Thailand)
Akkara’s works have been shown in various photo festivals such as Miami Street Photography Festival 2013, Singapore International Photo Festival 2016, Photo Bangkok Festival 2015-2018, Dali International Photo Festival 2019, etc. His photo zine called ‘Signs’ was presented at the NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1 and collected by the Franklin Furnace Archive and MoMA Library as part of the Anamorphosis Prize 2016.
Akkara founded CTypeMag, an e-magazine and independent photo gallery aiming to encourage contemporary photo works around the globe especially unknown and emerging photo artists. In 2022, Akkara was a curator who curated a huge photo exhibition ‘Interpreters’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Currently Akkara is a photo artist and an independent curator based in Bangkok.
