PRESS RELEASES
Rosewood Phnom Penh’s Art Gallery mounts a one-person exhibition, “Objects of Belief” by Than Sok, from September 13 until December 20, 2018. The exhibition features three series that highlight his ongoing study of form, materiality and meaning within cultural practices in Cambodia.
September 12, 2018
The exhibition title is drawn from the artist’s ongoing body of work, Objects of Belief, which reveals intricate, realistic watercolor paintings that depict everyday objects found in Cambodian Buddhist pagodas. The artist isolates the objects on neutral backgrounds, provoking curiosity on form and function: what materials do we use to practice our beliefs, and what are the multiple histories, uses and evolution of these objects?
The series of eight large-scale acrylic paintings entitled Seed Bank offers us another way to read these everyday objects. The artist likens the objects to seeds, keenly aware that to document everyday material culture of a particular time and place is an archival act that will germinate knowledge for generations to come. Seed Bank reduces the objects to icon-like renderings through skilled line representations. While some objects seem traditional or unchanging to Cambodia, others reflect globalizing forces. Some icons are categorized, like seeds, by “species,” such as technologies or vessels or clergy clothing, while other canvases mix and match objects from all spectrums of pagoda life.
The third and final series in this exhibition is Klah Klok, playful sculpture inspired by a popular game in Cambodia, familiar to all generations and played especially around holidays. The artist’s eponymous set of three oversized dice mimics the game and bears six icons: a crab, gourd (klok), lobster, rooster, goldfish and deer or tiger (klah.) To these icons the artist adds his own: flowers, gift boxes, car and house keys, a donation box – some of today’s material symbols that embody a range of expressions, such as social status, love and gratitude.
The exhibition is curated by Erin Gleeson, an indepdent curator and art historian whose work focuses on artists and histories related to Cambodia and Southeast Asia.
Than Sok, 34, was born in Cambodia’s Takeo province. He studied both traditional Khmer art forms and practices as well as contemporary art at the Art School of Reyum Institute of Art and Culture in Phnom Penh, where he graduated in 2007. Sok then pursued architectural studies at Norton University in Phnom Penh. He has been awarded a number of artist residencies, including at San Art, Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam in 2014; Sa Sa Art Project, White Building, Phnom Penh in 2014; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York City in 2013; S-Air, Sapporo, Japan in 2011; and Tokyo Wonder Site, Aoyama, Japan in 2005.
A selection of Than Sok’s group exhibitions include A Beast, A God and A Line at Museum of Modern Art Warsaw-Poland, Dhaka Art Summit-Bangladesh, Myanmart-Yangon; Parasite in Hong Kong in 2018; Sunshower: Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia from 1980 to today, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan in 2017; Asia Now, Paris Asian Art Fair, Paris in 2016; The Second China-ASEAN Biennale, Beijing in 2015; Haunted Thresholds, Spirituality in Contemporary Southeast Asia, Kunstverein Gottingham, Germany in 2014; Sights and Sounds: Global Video Art, The Jewish Museum, New York City in 2013; Video: An Art, A History, Singapore Art Museum in 2011; and Forever Until Now, 10 Chancery Lane, Hong Kong in 2009. Some of his works are collected by the Singapore Art Museum and MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum and appear as well in many private collections.
About Rosewood Phnom Penh
Rosewood Phnom Penh presents an ultra-luxury hospitality experience in the Cambodian capital. The hotel is located on the top 14 floors of Vattanac Capital Tower in the central business district, with unobstructed views of the city and the fabled Mekong River from its position within the tallest building in the capital. Rosewood Phnom Penh embraces the A Sense of Place® philosophy of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts® and reflects the location’s history, culture and sensibilities. It features 175 rooms and suites; five restaurants and lounges, including Sora, a sky bar on a cantilevered terrace; Sense, A Rosewood Spa; a fitness center; a 22-meter indoor lap swimming pool; and meeting facilities that include The Pavilion residential-style meeting and function space. For more information or reservations, please contact your travel professional, the hotel directly at phnompenh.reservations@rosewoodhotels.com or telephone +855 23 936 888.
