K11 Art Foundation

In his solo exhibition Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3, Thai artist Korakrit Arunanondchai imagines the whole denim–ground, where his mixed-media installation sits, as a giant painting seen from the point of view of a drone or spirit looking downwards from above.

The installation is adapted specifically for this presentation in K11 MUSEA. The journey starts at the corridor lit by fluorescents in red, yellow, and blue—the primary colours used in the performative body paintings being shown in the main exhibition space. The paintings were made by the artist after a go-go dancer performed a body painting performance resembling go-go dancing on the TV show ‘Thailand’s Got Talent’.

The artwork is an epilogue to the series of video installations that the artist began creating in 2012. In the video series, Arunanondchai addresses Chantri, a fictional character that embodies the space between the author and the audience. In this exhibition, Chantri manifests as a drone and a spirit, conversing with the artist about a final painting which he made for it.

Through exploring the construction of the mythical past and its mechanism of storytelling in relation to a not–so-far-away future, Arunanondchai creates a room in which stories from different times and registers of reality co-exist, creating a new reality.