H Gallery Bangkok presents Obscene, the latest exhibition by Manit Sriwanichpoom, one of Thailand's best known photo-artists in the international art world. His latest exhibition comprises two new series _ Holy Machismo and Obscene.
Holy Machismo consists of semi-abstract black and white photographs of traditional Thai lingams, fertility symbols widely used as sacred offerings for prosperity.
These extreme close-ups of these sacred symbols are sometimes sharply defined and at times blurry _ now brightly lit, now dark and looming: arrogant black snakes leaping to freedom or Darth Vader the Dark Lord himself.
Manit said they reflect a 50-year-old man's (his own) creeping sexual insecurity as he contemplates his balding head.
Obscene, on the other hand, are Baroque nudes, Caravaggio-esque, highly-charged saturated colour photos that reflect the garish realities of present-day Thai politics _ the administration and its supporters, drunk on power, trumpet the name of democracy, painting themselves as self-sacrificing heroes, defenders of idealism and freedom, bringers of justice to this benighted land.
Though inspired by different ideas, the two series fit well together since they both spring from the masculine (yang) vices of greed and lust, said Manit.
