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    Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook

    Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook

    Jan 25–Mar 30, 2015

    Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook
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    SculptureCenter presented Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, the Thai artist's first retrospective in the United States.

    Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook is one of the most prominent artists working in Southeast Asia. The exhibition showcased over 20 artworks spanning over a decade of the artist's career, and included video, sculpture, photography, and some of her better-known works, as well as those that have rarely been viewed, especially in the United States. Rasdjarmrearnsook also produced new sculptures for the exhibition.

    Working with psychologically rich materials, Rasdjarmrearnsook considers a wide range of subjects that have existed in marginal spaces, including women, the deceased, the insane, and animals. She creates complex narratives that confront societal structures of power and pedagogy. Concerned with systems of language and communication, Rasdjarmrearnsook makes earnest attempts to converse with subjects who don't speak in languages that are comprehended by or even acknowledged by mainstream society.

    The exhibition presented video works, including both The Class and Conversation series, where Rasdjarmrearnsook conducts discussions with corpses. Also included was Village and Elsewhere: Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Beheading Holofernes, Jeff Koons' Untitled, and Thai Villagers (2011), a video in which a Buddhist monk leads a comical conversation about these two Western paintings in a temple. A more recent group of works featured focused on the status of dogs in Thai culture and beyond. The exhibition premiered a new series of sculptures, each a portrait of the stray dogs that Rasdjarmrearnsook cares for in her home and at Chiang Mai University, where she teaches.

    For the past 25 years, Rasdjarmrearnsook's videos and installations have been regularly shown throughout the world. She represented Thailand at the Venice Biennale in 2005, and has been featured in many international exhibitions including Documenta, the Sydney Biennale, the Gwangju Biennale, the Istanbul Biennial, the Johannesburg Biennial and the Carnegie International. Rasdjarmrearnsook is also a respected professor in Thailand's leading art program in Chiang Mai University, where she has recently spearheaded one of the first media and theory departments in the country.

    The exhibition was curated by Ruba Katrib, Curator, SculptureCenter. The exhibition catalog can be viewed online or purchased in our Store.

    Sponsors

    SculptureCenter's major exhibition and operating support is generously provided by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; Jeanne Donovan Fisher; the Kraus Family Foundation; the Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation; the A. Woodner Fund; and contributions from our Board of Trustees. Additional funding is provided by the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation and contributions from many generous individuals.

    Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook is presented with the generous support of the Asian Cultural Council and many individual contributions. SculptureCenter's 2014/15 exhibition program is underwritten by UOVO Fine Art Storage.