Asian Artists to Watch 2024: Saroot Supasuthivech
Each year, we identify the Asian artists on the rise, shining a light on the exciting and provocative works enriching the region’s artistic and cultural landscape. Thai artist Saroot Supasuthivech shares his story.
Born and raised in Bangkok, Saroot Supasuthivech studies mixed-media arts at Silpakorn University. His work often combines installation, image and sound to construct intensely sensorial hyperrealities that reimagine a range of localities, merging both chronologies and perspectives. “My areas of interest are beliefs, rituals and history,” he explains.
In 2022 he worked with Thailand’s Nova Contemporary gallery on his River Kwai series, which focuses on how a remote region of Thailand has been divorced from its heritage and transformed into a spectacle for official interests, while also highlighting the impact of historically inaccurate representations, such as the film The Bridge on the River Kwai, and their effect on local self-perception. A mix of 4K digital video with audio, and resin with marble sculpture, it was first exhibited at Art Basel Hong Kong in 2022 (when Nova began representing the artist) and later at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin.
Recently, the 32-year-old artist’s work Spirit-forward in G Major, which requires the use of VR glasses for its final segment, was included in the “Passages” programme at the NTU Centre of Contemporary Art in Singapore. “This granted the opportunity for me to join the residency programme at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien,” says Supasuthivech. “The experience significantly contributed to my development, not only in an artistic way but also in terms of my future direction.”
Looking ahead, he says he intends to “explore and develop the concept of integrating Western fairy tale structures with Eastern narrative styles” and adds that his work River Kwai: A Memorial Service is Held in Memory of the Deceased has been chosen by SEA Focus 2024 to be part of the Singapore Art Museum collection.
See our Art Basel Hong Kong coverage here.
Source: Prestige Online
