Gongkan Muses on the Surrealism of Social Life at Tang Contemporary Art
Painterly play on “right person, wrong time.”
A new solo exhibition by Thai artist Kantapon Metheekul, better known as Gongkan, is set to open at Tang Contemporary Art, just in time for Art Basel Hong Kong. Titled Asynchronous Affinities, the show is a play on the proverbial idea of “right person, wrong time” as a point of departure, using it as a lens to explore the delicate ambiguity of interpersonal relationships, social situations and contemporary life at large.
This body of work marks a new chapter for the Bangkok-based painter, as he approaches social criticism and individual development in universal scenes of celebration, eating and play. The delightfully uncanny vignettes expand on the artist’s oeuvre which follows the journey of a young boy – a representation of himself – as he drifts between cosmic spaces, cross-cultural contexts and lush landscapes. Rendered in soft veils of pigments and subdued hues, and minimalist forms, Gongkan’s works maintain a quiet, meditative energy, in which the style itself becomes a metaphor for the liminal spaces for collective understanding.
Drawing on his Chinese roots – specifically the Teochew community of Chaoshan – the artist paints the complexities of identity and the nuances that emerge from these transcultural links; a blue-and-white porcelain bowl becomes a bath for two of his signature characters in “Non-Traditional Recipe,” while in “Endless Reflection,” figures whose heads bear the likes of Thai temple spires, emerge from a series of portals. Gongkan will also introduce a new installation: a rotating Chinese dining table set with “dishes” made of artifacts that deconstruct consumer culture: knotted fast fashion garments mimic buns; magazine strips are spun into noodles and CD stacks resemble Peking duck wraps.
In this space, Gongkan raises questions around misaligned – or “asynchronous” – affinities that affect us across cultural, social and economic lines. Playful yet incisive, the work reflects the push and pull of the forces that define us, and in embracing this movement, the artist invites us into a fluid world world of his own making, where cultures merge and diverge and identity is never fixed but in constant motion – much like the people navigating these shifting landscapes.
Asynchronous Affinities open on March 22 and will remain on view until May 14. Head to the gallery’s website for more details.
Tang Contemporary Art Hong Kong
10/F H Queen’s,
80 Queen’s Road Central,
Central, Hong Kong
