The Goodness. La bontà

Opening: Wednesday, March 8, 2023

6 - 9 p.m

MA-EC Gallery - Via Santa Maria Valle, 2 (Palazzo Durini)

The Goodness. La bonta, by Thabadin Boonnuang.

The Thai artist chooses Italy for his first solo exhibition in Europe.

On display in the gallery's three striking rooms are more than 20 works, including paintings and sculptures. With this exhibition, Thabadin brings to Milan his latest productions: oils on canvas and sculptures created during the pandemic, during which the artist found himself reflecting more broadly on the ideal of goodness as a tool for living in a better society. With this body of work, the public will be able to appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of contemporary Thai figurative art. Thabadin writes, "The paradise of happiness is meant for all mankind. In such a difficult time as we have gone through, one wonders what our heart's aspirations are, and where we will go after life, but what is certain is that we do not know whether we will return or not." Thabadin Boonnuang's work captures Thai identity and its relationship to the universe, and to Asian philosophical thoughts and beliefs, using a pictorial and sculptural language that draws fully from the Thai figurative art tradition, into which he also incorporates traditional kranok decorative motifs.

"The Goodness" is an exhibition project designed as a response to the unprecedented challenges driven by the pandemic and revolves around the question "What is the goal in our hearts in the last days that we could not expect?" and the idea that "Tomorrow is too late." Sigmund Freud once stated that no one believes in their own death. If the pandemic has changed lives forever, it is also because of the inability to accept death. Modern Western cultures try to push away the thought of death. According to Buddhist cosmology and teaching, the human world is not the only world where life exists, and it is believed that there is a dimension that humans call "Heaven," similar to the Garden of Eden, a symbolic space of perfect harmony, the place where absolute happiness reigns. The concept of this secret forest has a profound impact on beliefs, cultures and the arts. Thabadin Boonnuang's paintings and sculptures investigate the fundamental themes of existence, interweaving elements of the divine and tradition, giving us a glimpse into Thailand and celebrating, once again, the artistic legacy that binds Italy and Thailand. Few, in fact, know Prof. Silpa Bhirasri, born Corrado Feroci (Florence 1892), to this day considered the father of contemporary Thai art.

Thabadin Boonnuang, born in 1986, is an artist and independent scholar.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Thai art from the Royal Craftsmen School in 2004 and a Bachelor of Art degree from Ramkhamhaeng University in 2011, followed by a Master of Arts Education from Chulalongkorn University. He has always devoted himself to painting and sculpture, and to art education projects. Founder of Aesthetics Sense Co., Ltd. and Badin Art & Design Co., Ltd. which makes products developed respecting the identity of Thai art. He has numerous exhibition and cultural projects to his credit, the most recent ones include "Art for Happiness Restoration: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Bangkok (2021) and Thailand Digital Arts Festival 2022 (TDAF), Icon Siam, Bangkok. For the organization of the exhibition, Thabadin Boonnuang relied on the collaboration of Michela Negrini, who, since 2018 with various activities related to contemporary art, aims to strengthen the relationship between Europe and Thailand. Previous projects developed by Michela Negrini include the participation of Paolo Canevari in the first Bangkok Biennial (2018); the first solo exhibition of artists Thukral & Tagra in Thailand (2018); the first solo exhibition in Switzerland of Thai artist Kawita Vatanajyankur (2019); the traveling exhibition All things left behind. Carolina Sandretto, presented in Bangkok (2020), after stops in Lugano (CH), Pietrasanta (I), Capri (I); Olga Kisseleva's The Milky Way project presented at MOCA (2022).