Bandaul Srey “Memory of Smoke”
Topaz Arts
This event has ended.
“Memory of Smoke” is a new series of works on paper by Cambodian artist Bandaul Srey. Developing a technique of applying smoke on paper by using actual smoke from an oil lamp, Srey transfers personal memory in creating an art form that conveys human experience. The powerful image of smoke impacts people in many different ways. For Srey, who initially studied art at Site Two Camp on the Thailand border and whose artwork references his experience of war in context of modern-day Cambodia, explains, “Clouds of smoke can remind us of good or bad memories, for me smoke has bad memories. When I was a child I remember the bombs, their smoke, the sounds — these images are still fixed in my mind. I use the strong power of smoke in my memory to relate my life experience through drawing with smoke on paper.”
As an artist, Srey communicates these memories, creating visceral images that allow viewers to explore their own experiences with smoke. Srey is a 2011 Asian Cultural Council Starr Foundation Visual Arts Fellow and current artist-in-residence at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s studios at Governors Island.
The exhibition will be accompanied by drawings from Global Children’s Art Programme and photographs by Timothy Lomas – a project that took place at Phare Ponleu Selpak, where Bandaul Srey is Professor and Director of the Visual Arts School, a community-based school for music, visual arts, and performing arts he helped found in his hometown in Battambang Province, Cambodia.
About the Artist:
Srey Bandaul, is a Cambodian artist working in drawing, sculpture and painting. He is a Professor and the Director of the Visual Arts School at Phare Ponleu Selpak, a community-based school for music, visual arts, and performing arts he helped found in his hometown in Battambang Province. A current Asian Cultural Council Starr Foundation Visual Arts Fellow, Bandaul is currently an artist in residence at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s studios on Governors Island as well as conducting research about the development of contemporary art and the educational framework and art school management in the US. As an artist, Bandaul started to exhibit his works in 1998 at Reyum Gallery in Phnom Penh Cambodia. Since 2000, he has exhibited in many places around Cambodia and published two books, Looking at Angkor and The Land of the Elephants. He has also exhibited internationally, including Norway, the Philippines, Thailand, New York, Australia, and Singapore. During his residency in New York City, Bandaul will research and collect new information and ideas for developing his art school in Battambang and art community in Cambodia. His artwork will focus on a series of paintings made from smoke, and sculptures made from aluminum cans, talking about his experience of war and the modern world of Cambodia.
Media
Schedule
from December 01, 2011 to January 15, 2012
Opening Reception on 2011-12-03 from 15:00 to 18:00