In my opinion, art is made so that humans can openly express themselves or portray feelings of anguish, despair, joy, sadness, or even plain crazy through a story, poem, or a painting. It feels like punk singer Kyar Pauk (Han Htue Lwin), a member of Big Bag band, in his latest exhibition MICRO was nowhere close.
While most of his works are an adequate amount of expensive acrylic paint splattered on thick high-quality canvases, it certainly does not make up for his lack of originality. Grabbing a song from your favorite playlist and linking a QR code to it doesn’t add value. Especially if you’re setting the price at $1000 apiece.
This series is targeted toward the youth of Yangon, who are largely inexperienced in the topic of ‘art’ or even ‘expression.’ There was no general theme, just a collection of what he has painted over the past year or so. The title MICRO and its description describes very little of what the exhibition was really about. There was no logical explanation, nor were the paintings carefully explained. There was a slight “I don’t care what you think” vibe going on.
A good example to dissect would be Red, a painting that is clearly blue. The artist can name it however he likes, but it is a fact that this painting can be categorized in Rothko’s color field series inspired by European modernism and closely related to abstract expressionism while being a totally different genre of its own. This isn’t contemporary to me, this has all been done before. Blue swirls by a big paintbrush, with the occasional bristle being left inside the painting. Intended or not, it doesn’t look pleasing.
The artist already has a die-hard fan base for his art, synonymously for his music as well. It does, however, feel very experimental for him to try all of them—keeping in mind that he already has a book. This is his second exhibition, with his first exhibition being a semi-success.
It really is an open interpretation, anybody can see it as how they see it. For me, personally, these paintings make me feel bored and uninspired. The practice of uncoordinated or a lazy imagination does not make for good human expression. My worries are toward the young and experienced art lover who will look at this exhibition and grasp the wrong meaning of what ‘art’ really is. Art doesn’t need to be necessarily pretty, but it needs to make sense.
Disclaimer: These are my personal views, and your feedback—may it be good or bad—will be accepted wholeheartedly. I do not have anything against the artist nor will I ever. This review is done independently.
