Mit Jai Inn
Curated by Jenn Ellis
Presented by APSARA Studio and Silverlens
Exhibition January 14th – 29th, 2024. 106 New Oxford Street, WC1A 1HB
Installation View, Mit Jai Inn, London, 2022, courtesy Artist, Apsara Studio, Silverlens & Ikon. Photograph by James Retief.
“When I paint, it’s not only with my eyes, but with all of my senses: touch, smell, movement. The whole entity.” — Mit Jai Inn
Apsara Studio and Silverlens in collaboration with Ikon are thrilled to present the first solo exhibition in London by leading Thai artist Mit Jai Inn (b.1960, Chiang Mai). A renowned figure of contemporary art in Thailand, Mit is celebrated for his colourful artworks that merge painting and sculpture. Featuring works from his recent Dreamworld exhibition at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (which tours to MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai in September 2022), the three week show presents recent and new works made for Ikon which embody his vision of art “as a utopian dream within everyday life” and collective hopes for a brighter future.
As written by Ikon Curator Melanie Pocock: “A republican and activist, Mit’s works often convey his resistance to the Thai monarchy and military rule. Since 2020, popular protests in Thailand have called for political reform and for King Maha Vajiralongkorn to step down. Though punishable by imprisonment, thousands of people, including Mit, continue to campaign at their own risk, galvanised by the possibility of change. At times, colours in Mit’s works such as red, blue, yellow and silver reference Thai politics and his indigenous Yong heritage. Their defiance of traditional formats of painting also convey his rebellious spirit.
For Mit, painting is both intensely physical and deeply meditative. Using his hands, fingers and, occasionally, a palette knife, he dabs, slaps and pulls colours across the canvas, blending them intuitively. The thick consistency of his paints is derived from a mixture of old oil paint, gypsum powder, colour pigments and acrylic paints, loosened with linseed oil. Reflective minerals increase the dazzling effect of their combined colours and give them their “magic” glow.”
Stepping into the gallery space the visitor is invited to encounter Midlands Dwelling (2021), a site-specific work originally presented at Ikon that emphasises the textural physicality of Mit Jain Inn’s luminous practice as well as Scrolls (1987 –), which transform a traditional format of Eastern painting into rollable sculptures. Hanging on the walls is Patchwork 2, which breaks away from the clean lines and logic of minimalist painting through woven ribbons of canvas, while the fluorescent colours and frayed edges of Dream Works (1999 –) “express the excitement and anxiety felt by people around the world on the eve of the new millennium and since”.
The exhibition is accompanied by the London launch of Mit Jai Inn’s monograph, a comprehensive survey of Mit’s life and work, published by Ikon and ArtAsiaPacific Foundation, designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio. It includes full-colour documentation of the exhibition and key works, with texts by Melanie Pocock, Ikon Curator; art historian Simon Soon; critic and curator Brian Curtin; plus an interview with the artist by Gridthiya Gaweewong, Artistic Director, The Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok.
Text by Jenn Ellis
Mit Jai Inn (born 1960, Chiang Mai) was raised in an indigenous Yong family and Lanna weaving village in Northern Thailand. Aged nine, Mit became a novice monk at Djittabhawan Buddhist College, Pattaya (1970 – 1976). He began his artistic training at Silpakorn University, Bangkok, whose neo-traditionalist curriculum he eventually rebelled against. Leaving for Germany in 1986, where he camped in Kassel during documenta 8, he enrolled in the Master’s programme at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. There, he met acclaimed Austrian artist Franz West, for whom he worked as a studio assistant (1988 – 1992). Returning to Thailand in 1992, he founded with a group of Thai artists the Chiang Mai Social Installation (CMSI), a festival of ephemeral installations and performance art in public spaces and temples throughout the city. Over the past twenty years, his work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries including the Yokohama Triennale (2005); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007); Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (2011); Singapore Art Museum (2014); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2018); Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan; and the 18th and 21st Biennales of Sydney (2012 and 2018). His work is represented by Silverlens in Manila and TKG+ in Taipei. Mit lives and works in Chiang Mai.
Silverlens has earned recognition from artists, institutions, and collectors as one of the leading contemporary art galleries in Southeast Asia. Through its exhibition program, artist representation, art fair participation, and institutional collaboration, it aims to place its artists within the broader framework of international contemporary art dialogue. Silverlens participates annually in key international art fairs.