Footnotes

Published:
Demetrio Paparoni, Natee Utarit: Optimism is Ridiculous, Richard Koh Fine Arts, Milan, 2018, p.151

納提 · 尤塔瑞　譴責的美學一號　油彩麻布　木框　二〇一二年作

簽名：Natee Utarit 12 Aesthetic of Condemnation No.1

出版：
Demetrio Paparoni, 《納提 · 尤塔瑞：樂觀主義是可笑的》，Richard Koh Fine Arts，米蘭，2018年，頁151

Leading contemporary Thai artist Natee Utarit graduated from Silpakorn University, Bangkok, in 1992, majoring in painting, sculpture and graphic art. Initially influenced by German Expressionism and abstract art, his oeuvre further connects with photography, classical art of the renaissance as well as theories of postmodernism to reflect on the social realities in his native country.

The present lot is a thought-provoking critique of Western painting traditions, specifically floral still lifes. Whilst still-life painting emerged as a professional specialisation in Western painting by the late 16th century, it occupied the lowest rung in figurative art classification, below historical subjects, portrait art, genre paintings and landscapes. In his 2017 exhibition, 'It Would be Silly to be Jealous of a Flower', Utarit lamented over 'belittling and insulting conversations' on still life painting being often regarded as 'a symbol of boring, bourgeois taste' only painted by amateurs. Aesthetic of Condemnation No.1 can be seen as a protest against such bias. Here, a vase of white lilies and pink carnations has been deliberately overturned with drooping petals, blackened stems and snipped flower heads resting on the table against a black background - a marked departure from the typical set-up of voluptuous flowers in a vase. The overall effect is arrestingly melancholic and unsettling. There is a looming sense of defiance as if the subjects are ready to fight for their floral rights and proper place in the canons of aesthetics.