Artist Rirkrit Tiravanija tackles Thailand's color-coded strife

Rirkrit Tiravanija, arguably Thailand’s most famous contemporary artist, opened his first-ever solo exhibition in the Kingdom last night in signature fashion: he cooked for his audience. 

Rirkrit, whose work explores the social role of the artist and often promotes interaction with the public, has just opened “Who’s afraid of red, yellow and blue”, (named after a series of famous paintings by Barnette Newman) at 100 Tonson Gallery. 

Previous international installations, such as a recreation of his own apartment and the setting up of a recording studio, have brought daily life into the gallery and Rirkrit worldwide recognition.

Commenting on the timing of this exhibition, Rirkrit tells CNNGO, “It could be said that we are in a moment of turning points [in Thailand] and I think in which direction we are going, there are great doubts and uncertainty; it seems like a crucial moment to make some insertion or interjection into the landscape, into the chatter. There was a context and condition for work to be made, a reason to communicate.”

'Artistic practices have always played both critical and reflective roles'

Rirkrit, who was born in 1961 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and grew up in many countries, has based himself in Chiang Mai the past several years. For his exhibition at 100 Tonson, the gallery’s walls have been turned into a platform for expressions of various (and at times contradictory) thoughts and beliefs as communicated through charred drawings and graffiti.

Rirkrit Tiravanija fires up the pot as he prepares to cook for guests at his 100 Tonson Gallery opening.

“It is a play on art and artistic practice, which can be interpreted as addressing the contemporary conditions,” explains Rirkrit. “What I am interested in doing now is to play off the sense of histories in both the artistic context and the social context. So, we can understand that in time of strife and conflicts artistic practices have always played both critical and reflective roles.”

Recently 100 Tonson has made an effort to make its offerings relevant to the current crisis and brought in some of Thailand’s biggest names in contemporary art. Dancer Phichet Klunchun, for example, recently completed a series of searing and provocative performances that reflected on the conflict, while only a few hundred meters away the protests raged.

Rirkrit downplays the political nature of his work. “I don’t think that what I am interested in addressing is just about current affairs; I think it’s the affairs we have to deal with in our daily life.  It is looking at histories and wanting to remind ourselves that we have a history and we have reasons for our existence, there is a struggle which will not be swept under the rug, that there is a lot of problem in this society and people will come out into the streets, whenever or as long as the people in power are abusing both the system and the confidence of the population, people should and will come out into the streets. But no struggle is simple, it is complex and the people in the middle, the population, the people in the street are being used and manipulated. We are all being manipulated, and corrupted into systems and beliefs which more often than not only serve the few.” 

Nevertheless he says there is an overlying message. “I hope that a work of art can bring differences to play; to make everyone recognize that what they are fighting for is the same.  But we are all different, we are constructed from very different conditions, very different struggles, and we have to respect those differences, we have to give space, we have to give language to everyone, we have to give speech, we have to give opportunity for everyone to express their opinion to express their otherness, and we should listen and listen well.” 

The exhibitions and interactions of “Who’s afraid of red, yellow and blue" will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Thursday-Saturday of August and close on Sunday, August 29, at 100 Tonson. Call +66 (0)2 684 1527 for more information.