Bangkok--23 Jun--Modern Gallery
HOPEHENRI LAMY25 June – 30 August 2014 at Modern Gallery, O.P. Garden&25 June – 31 July 2014 at Sofitel So Bangkok
“Why do I do art? … I call it the spark. The edge of passion that is inside everyone”
Henri Lamy is a moments man; a moments artist. And he is bringing his sharp, poetic eye to Bangkok, Thailand, in the new, exciting exhibition, Hope.
Hope weaves in and out and mixes together the acute energies and simple graces of Thailand. And it is all captured in a moment; in a face. From Thailand’s iconic and spiritual guises to its every day postcard profiles, Henri Lamy creates a line of work which blends the thoughtful and playful with his own curious sensitivities.
Armed with a palette knife and French rap music, Lamy is on a mission to communicate the truth. A prophet. To take a good look around and understand not just more, but deeper.
His colours are sharp, immediate and restless. His moods, likewise. From the gloomy whites and data style grays of ‘Through the Pixels of Cognition’ and ‘Somdet Phra Sangkharat’ to the yellow tinted blues, pinks and reds of ‘From the Horse to the Spikes’, ‘Palette Knife’ and ‘Pae Arak’, Lamy has captured a moment; a face, which we’ve all worn. And by drawing us into his moments; his faces, he takes us on a journey of our own, into our own. And this is a spiritual quest which is overseen by ‘Supreme Phra Phikanet’ and ‘Oh My Buddha’.
Born in France, Henri Lamy was encouraged at a very young age by his father to pick up a paint brush and express himself. And since his early years, Henri Lamy has developed a style and technique, which borrows from some of the greats, such as Jackson Pollock’s ‘drip painting’, but which also lends to his own unique brilliance.
Residing in Lyon, France, Lamy’s journey of palettes, knives and paint has taken him from Paris, to Aix en Provence, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Yokohama, Beijing, Nanjing, Singapore, Manila and now, Bangkok, Thailand.
Opening Exhibition for ‘HOPE’
25th June 2014 from 6 pm
Venue : Modern Gallery
4, 6 O.P. Garden, Unit #1A-1103
Charoenkrung 36, Bangrak, Bangkok
Mon – Sat 11 am – 7pm Contact : 02 238 6449, 081 920 4392
For more information or high res images, please contact:
Nawintanan Jitdejawat (Pimmy)
International Communication Manager, Modern Gallery
Mobile 086 999 6591
[email protected]
PROFILE
HENRI LAMY
Life is lived and remembered in moments. Writers, musicians, philosophers, actors, sportsmen, teachers and my granddad, who had a terrible memory, have all said it. And it’s true. No one ever remembers the date or time of this and that, because it’s irrelevant. The human framework is the heart and soul, not the calendars and clocks. Henri Lamy is a moments man. A moments Artist.
Born in France, Henri Lamy was encouraged at a very young age by his father to pick up a paint brush and express himself. And since his early years, Henri Lamy has developed a style and technique, which borrows from some of the greats, such as Jackson Pollock’s ‘drip painting’, but which also lends to his own unique brilliance.
Up close, his work appears abstract, yet from afar it becomes more figurative. His colours are sharp, passionate, immediate, curious and captivating. They are not to be ignored. In fact, they are to be all consuming. By giving you his subjects up close and very personal, Henri Lamy takes you into yourself by taking you into his subjects. To see yourself in another. To identify yourself in another and to resonate with another is one of the great treasures of human existence. And Henri Lamy allows you to do just that.
Afterall, this is how Henri Lamy likes to communicate. In an interview with IvyBetty, he shared that by “looking we are communicating,” and by “looking” he means looking at people. Specifically, their faces. Why he chose the face, even Henri Lamy doesn’t know. “It’s just spontaneous,” he says. “Nothing makes me decide this,” he tells the Bangkok Post. And by recording faces, he says, “words become useless.” And it is a process he appears to revel in and find a deeper understanding to. For example, ‘Rebel’, which was inspired by a homeless man in San Francisco, Lamy admits to being fascinated by how this “old hat, blond dreadlocks and beard” existed “out of society.”
And Lamy, himself, is someone who appears to be drawn “out of society” to those, who, also live, somewhat, “out of society.” Whether it is at home, in Paris, at the 59 Rivoli, which is a squat for artists, or the children’s orphanage in Sao Paulo, or the Pilipino poor of its countryside and city, Lamy actively searches for those guises, profiles and characters, which resonate and captivate him. And it is a quest which has now seen his flavour and flair exhibited in Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Yokohama, Beijing, Nanjing, Singapore, Manila and Bangkok.
Today, Henri Lamy is an internationally renowned artist, and he has achieved this, because of his desire to bond with people; to give them a voice and centre stage. To show that regardless of any ethnic or socio-economic boundaries, there is a little bit of us in each and every one of us, and in the end, that is what makes us human. It is our ability to share an experience. And whether those experiences are the feelings of joy as a child, the sense of hopelessness as an adult, or the muted pleasures as a lover; all in all, people are people, emotions are emotions, moments are moments and we are we. And that’s what Henri Lamy gives you, me and we.
‘HOPE’
25 June – 30 August 2014 at Modern Gallery
25 June – 31 July 2014 at Sofitel So Bangkok