Lot 88: PRASONG LUEMUANG (b. Thailand 1962)

Untitled
gouache and paper collage on canvas
39 x 55 in. (100 x 140 cm.)

Prasong Luemuang has been called a sophisticated farmyard fantasist.

Using imageries from village life and Thai folk animism, the artist creates visions of 'cacophonous phantasmagoria'. Prasong's paintings are characteristically dark comedies that mingle the sublime with loving caricatures of human foibles, lust and sensual pleasures, in ways that are at once satirical and playful.

Commenting on the works of the artist "All of Prasong's paintings have a unique style, reflecting the artist's appreciation for Chinese and Japanese art as well as his interest in Surrealism and Fantastic Art. Chinese paintings of Boddhisatvas have had an especially strong influence on his development as an artist. The interplay of light and heavy brushstrokes in the hair, eyebrows, and beards of his human figures reflects this influence.

Many of the human figures which inhaibit Prasong's work often possess some remarkable physical features, or they are village people, like the duck farmer or the buffalo herder, who have an unusual manner or way of life. Often the artist chooses to emphasize the feature which distinguishes these individuals. The eyes, nose, mouth, tongue and teeth may be exaggerated as a means of conveying a certain mood or feeling. The entire head is usually either larger or smaller than the rest of the body, and in some cases, the various parts of the body may be separated altogether. In some works, Prasong concentrates on the communities and customs of rural people. These works are bright and lively and reflect the playful spirit of the villagers. His paintings of fish, birds, and buffalo evoke the calm and tranquility that continue to be an integral part of life in rural Thailand.

Prasong compares his paintings to a theater where many types of plays are performed. The subject matter and the style Prasong chooses to employ for any given work depend on his mood at the time. With each new work, he allows his thoughts, feelings and imagination of the moment to determine the direction the paintings take. He makes no preliminary sketches but paint directly onto the canvas, or paper when and as the spirit moves him." (Assistant Professor Samporn Rodboon, Preface in The Facets of Life, Surapon gallery, Bangkok, 1998).