Collage No.3 (1967) by Prawat LaochareonArt Centre Silpakorn University
This work was created during a period when abstract art had emerged in Europe around the 20th century and was flourishing greatly, gaining popularity and spreading to other parts of the world, including Thailand. (Read more about abstract art in Thailand at Miscellaneous Abstract, an Exhibition of Abstract Art Movement in Thailand)
Collage No.3 (1967) by Prawat LaochareonArt Centre Silpakorn University
"Collage No. 3" by Prawat Laocharoen is a Silver Medal award-winning work in the painting category from the 17th National Exhibition of Art in 1967.
He also received awards at the same competition in the 16th (painting) and 18th (printmaking) exhibitons, before pursuing a professional career as a printmaking artist in New York.
This work reflects the evolution of creative approaches, shifting away from valuing realism and academic likeness toward presenting beauty that emerges from artistic elements in themselves (visual elements).
Prawat freely incorporated new media into his paintings, as seen through intentional marks of lines and color, or painting over various fabric materials layered against smooth surfaces.
The weight of opaque colors contrasted against bright colors creates an overall balance in the composition.
The arrangement of these elements communicates and expands the true nature of the materials themselves, blended with abstract imagination from the artist's inner world, a characteristic of abstract art that is not bound to meaning or social narratives.
It is one of the works that reflects the creative development of Thai artists in the 1950s–1970s, who began creating work that departed from traditional conventions, as well as shifting the audience's perception, inviting viewers to see the world of artistic beauty from a new angle and feel its value through their own imagination and experience.
Check out more arts from Thailand at Thailand Art Up Close
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