Past events are archived for future reference.
Bundit Puangthong is a contemporary Thai artist based in Melbourne who immigrated to Australia in 2000. His enigmatic paintings fuse Buddhist mythology with a graffiti art style, resulting in vibrant and frenzied compositions.
Borrowing from an array of disparate sources, Bundit weaves religious iconography with personal narratives and pop cultural symbols. His resulting works have a stream of consciousness effect that merges together cultures, histories and the painterly traditions of the temple and the street. Using an intuitive approach that embraces chance and precision, Bundit’s works often strike a balance between expressive painterly gestures and carefully controlled illustrations.
Drawing Wall #27 combines Thai mythology with Shepparton’s history of migration. The scene depicts a traditional Thai epic, The Ramayana, which features the character of Hanuman, a supernatural and immortal monkey who was also the leader of an army. In the story, Hanuman made his body into a bridge (signified by his fish-like scales) that allowed his army to cross a great ocean to another land. As an Australian artist from a migrant background, Puangthong uses the analogy of the magical Hanuman to open up conversations around re-settlement and place.
Bundit Puangthong holds a Bachelor of Arts in printmaking from Chaing Mai University, Thailand (1995); a Masters of Visual Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (2005). Select group exhibitions include Finalist, Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria (2017 and 2011); Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane (2015); Melbourne Art Fair, Edwina Corlette Gallery (2014); Finalist Group Exhibition, Sovereign Art Prize, Hong Kong (2008). Solo exhibitions include Reliving, Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane (2016); Full Circle, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne (2015); Heaven Nine, Chalk Horse Gallery, Sydney (2014); Bundit Puangthong, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne (2009). He has exhibited widely throughout Australia and Asia, and his work is held in public and private collections. Bundit Puangthong is represented by Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane; and Olsen gallery, Sydney.
Image: Bundit Puanthong, Takeaway Dove 2016, acrylic and spray paint on linen 168 x 170cm, courtesy and © Bundit Puangthong and Olsen Gallery
PUBLIC PROGRAM
Tuesday 11 July - Technicolour Dreams - Spray-paint and Existstencilism. Read more or book in now.
