Even nudes wear political colours

THAILAND’S POLITICAL situation might feel slightly cooler at the moment, but it’s sexually hot in the photographs of Manit Sriwanichapoom, on view in the exhibition “Blue: The New Series of Nude” opening tonight at the Adler Subhashok Gallery on Sukhumvit Soi 33.
The monochrome photos show nudes bathed in deep blue or crimson, promising to entice the viewer into “another state of being”.
“The male and female nudes twist themselves into unnatural poses,” Manit says in the catalogue. “Their naked flesh saturated with the colour blue robs them of their sexual nature and identity so they seem androgynous. They are like tormented souls in the midst of conflicting forces.
“Blue is one of the colours of the Thai flag, a flag for a nation increasingly split. At the same time, blue in itself is a noble colour, transcending all social sickness and political violence.”
The nude women in red, in contrast, are printed in multiple exposures – and in the negative – to depict the moment of sexual climax.
The gallery is also hosting the group show “Moi/Soi” with eight young Thai artists, including establshied Michael Shaowanasai. It marks the start of a join-venture between collector Subhasok Angkasuwansiri and French couple Armelle and Joel Cohen of the Adler Gallery Paris.
The Cohens and French curator Laurent de Pass will give a talk at the opening at 4pm. Both shows run through April 30. Aiming to promote Thai contemporary art, the gallery will exhibit selected works by nine artists at the Paris Art Fair later this month.
Meanwhile tonight in a shophouse near the corner of Surawong and Narathiwat roads, American  photographer Greg Constantine opens “Exiled to Nowhere: Burma’s Rohingya”. The National Endowment for Democracy, Blue Earth Alliance and the Canadian Embassy are sponsoring the show, which has already been in London, Canberra, Washington, Brussels and Jakarta – what Constantine calls “strategic audiences”.
He believes the exhibition is a good fit for the immense building, which has sat unused for 20 years. The Bangkok show is timed to coincide with an Asean summit in Yangon and other events concerning the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.
Constantine will give a talk at 3 on Saturday. The show continues through March 22 before moving to Tokyo. Find out more at www.ExiledToNowhere.com.