25 JAN – 15 FEB 2025 / Opening reception 25 JAN / 6 – 9 PM. 

Totty Swe

b. 1979, Madaya, Myanmar

Lives and works in Yangon, Myanmar

Totty Swe studied Fine Arts at the University of Culture, Yangon, in 1996. Around 1998, he embarked on a career as a designer in the publishing industry, eventually becoming a beloved cartoonist. Swe is one of the most prominent figures in the latest generation of Mandalay-style painters.

He has successfully carried on the legacy of this school, notably initiated by U Kin Maung (Bank), which is characterized by a deep affection for the land, people, and traditions. His paintings continue to convey the rich, vibrant colors and the deep joy that are hallmarks of this style. His innate cheerfulness, coupled with his additional roles as a cartoonist and designer, has likely contributed to the dynamic and lively nature of his artworks.

These diverse experiences as a designer, and cartoonist influenced his subsequent painting career, creating influences that informed his artistic expression. His paintings of bustling bazaars, Burmese temple festival markets, and scenes vividly capture the vibrant and lively spirit of rural Myanmar (Anyar Region) which is also his hometown. His depictions of Mandalay, Amarapura, Sagaing, Bagan, and the Salay countryside were loved by many Burmese people for both evoking and easing their sense of nostalgia and longing for home in their hearts. Swe’s riverine landscapes, particularly those of the Irrawaddy River, often portray a sense of hope, struggle, and the enduring spirit of the people. Moreover, his urban scenes offer a poignant commentary on the hectic and often challenging aspects of modern life.”

Totty Swe’s Recent Solo Exhibition, ‘Teta Watercolor’ (Myanmar Ahla Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar, 2023), ‘Shwe Yay Chel’ (Hotel Hazel, Mandalay, Myanmar, 2022), Group Exhibition, ‘Raing for a Moment’ (D-nakano Art Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar, 2024), ‘Sketching Walker’ (Blossom Art Gallery, Mandalay, Myanmar, 2024), ‘Missing Summer’ (Shwe Khit Oo Art Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar, 2024), ‘Heads and Tails’ (Lokanat Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar, 2023).

The artist has titled this watercolor and acrylic paintings for his exhibition as ‘Rachel’ ‘he explained that the title refers to his daughter and also symbolizes the act of painting, as the Burmese word ‘Ray Chal (ရေးခြယ်)’ means ‘to paint’.

21 DEC 2024 – 11 JAN 2025

9 – 30 November 2024

KIN MAUNG YIN (1938-2014)
ARTISTE EXTRAORDINAIRE

One of the three second-line leaders of modern art in Myanmar, and someone whose works and personality wielded a lot of influence on many artists, is Kin Maung Yin, born 1938.
The two first line leaders U Kin Maung (Bahn) of Mandalay and Baji Aung Soe of Yangon were the path finders and had other followers but it was the Paw Oo Thett-Win Pe-Kin Maung Yin trio that made a strong impact on the young painters of the 1960s and ’70s who were eager to expand their art beyond the boundaries of skilled realism.
Led by these three, and in spite of Socialist restrictions on creativity and lack of art materials, a strong modern art movement had emerged by the late 1960s. Now, with Paw Oo Thett passing away in 1993, Win Pe migrating to the United States, Kin Maung Yin alone remains contentedly working in Myanmar.
His dedication to his art, his commitment to his creativity and his utter lack of interest in materialistic profits remains unchanged.
His initial profession of an architect was never far from his art. After graduating from the University of Rangoon, he worked for almost a year for an organisation on Dacca, Bangladesh. By the end of 1962 he was back in Yangon, painting fulltime, sometimes accepting architecture commissions so that he could buy art materials.
After his returned from Dacca he had joined an architectural firm of Architects Incorporated, usually known as A1. He lived on the premises of the office at the corner of 24th Street and Strand Road. About the same time Paw Oo Thett and Win Pe came down from the old royal capital of Mandalay. Fate drew them to the same place, for a writer introduced Paw Oo Thett to one of the architects. The three formed a bond that was to last until POT passed away.
Beginning in 1963 they began to hold solo or group exhibitions just for the three of them, sometimes joined by other artists. However in these early years of the 1960s until almost the late 1960s, only the names of the three emerged and their works caught the imagination of the younger aspiring painters and art students. In those days it was extremely difficult to present a public art show and most of the earlier exhibitions were privately held in the homes of interested locals or foreign diplomats.
In the narrow world of Socialism, modern art found it a struggle to survive. Although it was not banned there were attacks of it being decadent, accusations thrown by the State propaganda machine. However all art shows needed to be scrutinised first by a censorship board. Paintings that were not done realistically often raised suspicions as to its ‘inflammatory’ content and needed explanations of its ‘meaning.’

Strident accusations of decadency or worse, of comparing non objective art to ‘smears of faeces’ came from the left-leaning, conservative literati who also screamed similar accusations at modern poetry.
However, creativity could not be banned nor progress stopped in its tracks and by the late 1990s contemporary art has been well established.
All through these difficult decades Kin Maung Yin, without a murmur of complaint (if he indeed noticed anything amiss), steadfastly continued to produce art.
He said that in an earlier period he was very much influenced by Modigliani, and hints of this influence could be seen in a few of his figures and portraits. Although he claimed a later devotion to Pollock, the influences of Modigliani remained, not in the human figures but in the purity of colours. In this he seemed to have gone beyond the art of his role model, for Kin Maung Yin is best known for his use of pure, pristine and translucent colours. His scenes of Bagan, landscapes and sunsets verge on the brink of abstract art; his brush swirls and skims and dances as his colours shimmered and glowed on canvas.
Kin Maung Yin’s art is an extension of his soul: one of childlike wonder for the universe, amazement at the beauty of life, an unconscious overflow of sincerity, simplicity and an innocence that few artists ever found…or harder still, retain.

(Text by: Ma Thanegi)

14 – 28 September 2024

Kyaw Htoo Bala (b. 1992, Myanmar)
Bala is an artist with a multidisciplinary approach, delving into contemporary matters through his creative
expression. He graduated in Fine Arts from Lasalle College of The Arts, Singapore in 2017. Bala’s artistic range
encompasses painting, photography, printmaking, sculpting, videography, and digital art. In 2021, Bala founded
Monologue Art Space in Yangon, Myanmar, providing a platform for artistic exploration and collaboration. His first
solo exhibition took place in Yangon in 2017, and he was honored as a finalist for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize
in Hong Kong in 2022. In 2023, his work was showcased in a group exhibition presented by Intersections at
S.E.A Focus in Singapore. Currently, Bala works at his studio in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

SELECTED EXHIBITION 2013, GROUP EXHIBITION (LAWKANAT GALLERY) YANGON, MYANMAR 2017,
THE ENIGMATIC BREAKFAST, SOLO EXHIBITION (MYANART GALLERY), YANGON, MYANMAR 2022, THE
SOVEREIGN ASIAN ART, NOMINATED GROUP EXHIBITION (ART CENTRAL), HONG KONG 2023, S.E.A.
FOCUS, GROUP EXHIBITION (SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM/INTERSECTIONS GALLERY), SINGAPORE
2024, THE SCREAM OF THE GECKO, SOLO EXHIBITION (MONOLOGUE ART GALLERY), CHIANG MAI,
THAILAND

About the Series ‘People, Flower, and Fish Bone’ is a recent series by Bala, inspired by his earlier work, ‘The
Tales.’ In this mini-series, he contemplates the daily realities and events unfolding in his country. Bala uses
flowers and fish bones as simple yet powerful metaphors to represent hope, the future, the past, and death.

17 August – 7 September 2024

When my mother had to move out from the Rangoon University staff’s housing, she bought a bungalow near where a few of her friends had already settled.

I was quite delighted, as an emerging painter, to find out that an artist I had long admired was living only a few minutes’ walk away: Paw Thame.   a modernist with a boldness of hand and thought. he had already formed a tight-knit group of artists for his ”Peacock Gallery”: a large shed with walls of bamboo mats and a thatch roof, with a scrupulously clean floor of packed earth.

I walked over and introduced myself. What I noticed on that first meeting was his demeanor of calm gentleness although there was also a sense that he’d not suffer fools of any kind.

After a few visits from me he invited me to become a member; I was glad but not surprised because I had guessed that he was not the usual Burmese male type who rarely treats women as equal. The other members I noticed, mostly shared his way of thinking.

Mar Mar knew more of Paw Thame’s work, and did a lot to keep his career on the top of the charts, being a person of dedication.

I was more like a family member because, as Peacock Gallery members, we were a family.

I, in spirit and devotion, am still a member of the Peacock family together with the late sculptor Sonny Nyein who was also Paw Thame’s closest friend, and painters Gyee Saw and Tun Tin, both who had since settled in the United States.

We still love him. We are still proud of him and miss him deeply in our hearts. Paw Thame was, as an artist, a friend, a man of integrity, irreplaceable.

 Text by:  Ma Thanegi

6 – 28 July 2024

• Myat Wai (b. 1987 in Taungtwingyi, Myanmar)
• 2017: 1st solo show at Cloud 31 Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar
• 2021: 2nd solo show at M.P.P Gallery, Nyuang-U, Myanmar
• 2006: His poem were published
• 2021: The melancholy river
• 2017: Kywae

‘Home Again’ (Paintings and Poems) by Myat Wai

01.During the civil war in Burma, Chantha village Church was burned.
02. There is a village beyond fields. It’s lovely and warm but it’s might be there, now.
03. Kayah before the civil war, there were the broad fields which I wouldn’t think. The broad fields were changed into hay and made brown soil.
04. The lane goes between the urban and the country of Ywashay village.
05. There is a path near Minnanthu village. The path is my favorite place. It’s the wide and flat sky and the biggest rain clouds. There are many trees but only one shadow. The only one shadow is me. The picture is that place, adding my imaginations.
06. It is strength that sunlight shined over the size of the big volume cloud and the size of the volume wall. The sky was the blue of the rainy season. I liked the fallen tree that living in the agricultural compound as I had seen the morning sunshine which is glare beyond the views.
07. The Wall of the road for Minnanthu village in rainy season in Bagan- there is the most beautiful time in Bagan because of clouds and the full sunbeam.
08. Viewpoint on the Tharaba gate, Bagan.
09. Trying to run away from the stifling of the urban life, I have to re-enter through the place. The burned fields attracted me and I couldn’t help drawing.
10. Returning from Hsipaw – Shan State, I drew the views in my mind.
11. The sunset of Hsipaw from a downhill path.
12. My beloved family and I travelled towards the Andaman Sea also known as Burma Sea. Human being swims like a fish in the sea.
13. Family trip to May Myo, drawing selfie poses at Kandawgyi botanical garden – including sky, water, tree and a man.
14. ‘In the end, I’m alone’ (Kin Maung Yin) All the plains are yellow and the mountain is also yellow. And also, the sky is the golden color. There is a home alone. There is a dried dead tree, only it’s getting lonesome. Another world is golden color with a happy ending. Eventually, you will be only one.

15. Melancholy River

16. Is Paris burning?

17. 24 Seasons

10 – 24 February 2024

13 January – 6 February 2024

2 – 30 December 2023

27 – 30 November 2023

by 7 Korean Artists:

Keehyon Kim / Gileun Kim / Giheon Bae, Gyeongjun Min / Heidelberg Eum / Eui Jeong / Songchu Cho (Director)

28 October – 22 November 2023

Than Kyaw Htay

b. 1978 in Sittwe, Myanmar

Lives and works in Yangon, Myanmar

1997-2000, Studied at State School of Fine Art, Yangon, Myanmar

His recent solo exhibitions

2023, ‘Gazing’ at the Collector Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar

2022, ‘Me and Mrauk Oo’ at the Collector Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar

2020, ‘Silent walks’ at Retour de Voyage Gallery, France

About Silent Moves, 2023

One day I was watching a film called “The dust of the time” directed by Angelopoulos. There was a scene which departed many people standing in front of a big statue, paying respect. It was a high angle shot and I saw many heads and faces pointed towards me. It gave me a strange feeling and I paused to try to work out what it was. I tried to paint what I had felt, but on the first attempt I failed. I kept on trying, but my paintings still didn’t satisfy me.

Some days later, one of my relatives from Rakhine visited to my studio. He was from an island near Sittwe and he told me that many families from the village had moved to Yangon. I ask him lots of questions and he answered with their different stories.

I let these stories sink in and then suddenly I felt the need to pick up my brush again, painting one canvas after another. Satisfied with my creation, I have found what I was searching for. The year 2017 is the twentieth anniversary of my migration from Rakhine to Yangon.

In your native land…

• When you have lost members of your family
• When you have to leave your family to survive
• When the future is uncertain
• When you realize a better life doesn’t exist where you are
• When hopes vanish
• When dignity of all is lost or forgotten
• When lives are threatened
• When the environment is damaged
• When you think any other place must be better and more secure than yours MIGRATION

(Silent Moves) begins,

Migration happens every second all over the world. Migration has become the big issue of the world. Life is migration and it is a past of Samsara.

(Than Kyaw Htay)

15 July – 12 August 2023

11 March – 28 April 2023

In this exhibition, Narongyot has tried to spotlight the evidence of what is happening to the aquatic life by assembling the waste materials that he collected from the sea. The flock of rubber fish represents the inevitable drifting of the food chain in marine ecosystem where people consume the fish that were forced to eat sea debris left by human. These remnants perplex the sea dwelling creatures as they can no longer recognize which is food for them and which is not. They are nibbling on the man-made materials that used to kill their ancestors over generations. In the end the waves will bring back the evidences that we once dumped into it. Not to judge us. But to show us the truth.

Narongyot Thongyu (b. 1982, Songkhla, Thailand) is a contemporary Thai artist. He often uses the scraped objects found at the seashore to compile into a series of works including drawing, painting and sculptural object. His interests in the dialogical aspect of object. Each work implicitly reveals his quests of the social power relations between goods, human and nature and the prevailing ideologies in the spaces of production. His work expands the possibility of material, tapping the tactile and human dimensions within an object and its history. Fictional and yet realistic, his tactile artwork investigates the transpersonal and societal concerns through the agency of materiality.

4 Feb – 4 March 2023

12 Nov – 10 Dec 2022

20 – 27 August 2022

29 Jan – 28 Feb 2022

12 March – 1 April 2022

Piti Sedthee was born in 1956 in Bangkok, he lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Piti is known as a Self-taught Artist, a lot of Piti’s works deliver purity, honesty, freedom, and directness to the viewers.

One part of Piti’s sources of inspiration for this “Disappeared Monalisa” series comes from newspaper photos and the faces of people printed in weekly magazines.

Many of his “drawings” portray the faces of people from media headlines, family members, the sceneries from his mind, and the shocking news that he runs through daily, Piti never failed to spread it all out on paper and raw fabric.

2 – 24 April 2022

1 May – 1 July 2022 

• U Bat Sat [b. 1980, Thailand, lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand]
• 2021​: Ph.D. Buddhist Studies, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Chiang Mai Campus, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
• 2007​: M.A. Philosophy and Religion Department, Faculty of Humanity, Chiang Mai University.
• 2003​: B.A. Painting, Faculty of Fine Art, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
• 2002: ​(out) Exchange Program, The College of Art, Hue University, HUE, Vietnam.

The Ballad of Myanmar Lu Myo

The chronicles of Myanmar and Theravada Buddhism began with the mentioning of two Mon traders who invited the hair of the Buddha to a small temple where it later became The Great Shwedagon Pagoda in modern days. During the 3rd Buddhist Century during the reign of Ashoka the Great, there had been dispatches of Buddhist missionaries to the land called “Suvarnabhumi” or Thaton, which is an important city in the lower regions of Myanmar.

The tales within the chronicles exhibit a reflection of trading routes in the Bay of Bengal for over 2,600 years. The routes are utilized for migrating people, especially the Mon and the Pyu who are among the first to settle in this area along Irrawaddy River. The rise of Bagan Kingdom in 13th Buddhist Century marked the beginning of nation state and unity, as well as the continuity of many different ethnic groups such as Pyu, Kachin, Tai Yai, Chin, Rakhine, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, and small tribes dispersed within the land for over long periods of time. Diversity brought conflict and fighting to the people of different races in Myanmar history. Mongol Empire invasions coupled with constant warring with neighboring states like China and Ayothaya shows as if the people in Myanmar were cursed to dwell in on-going war throughout a lifetime.

Then, the English colonialism arrived in 19th Buddhist Century. It brought forth major changes in the country including the collapse of monarchy system, changes in the form of governance, changes in political institutions and economy. In turn, this drove Myanmar to become modern under the name “British Burma” between 1824 – 1948, over 124 years of being colonized by England before gaining full independence on January 4th, 1948. Despite external threats cleared off, internal turmoil once again brewed up. The echo of gunfire heard on the parliament secretariat building and the death of General Aung San in the morning of July 19th, 1947, took the country to its darker depths. The rise of General Ne Win, who transformed the country into a Socialist Republic (military dictatorship) and halted the country like a hermit in asceticism, severely affected the people and its economy. Shortly after, Myanmar turned into one of the poorest countries in the world. Starvation and poverty forced the people to fight back. The major protest in 1988, the Saffron Revolution in 2007, and the latest anti-coup d’etat in 2020 up until today caused many deaths and imprisonment of its people like never seen before. No sign of it being over and no one could tell how the political conflict will come to resolution.

“Burmica” is the work of U Bat Sat, a contemporary artist who is in the habit of delving into the long history of Myanmar, especially the history of people and the many different ethnicities. He seeks to understand and learn about existence in diversity, particularly the history of neighboring countries that is often portrayed as the antagonist in the textbooks by the Ministry of Education in Thailand.

A painting of 2.4 x 8.40 m. which tells the tales and life stories of the little people of different origins, dispersed their habitats throughout the banks of Irrawaddy River. It is a rhythmic showcase of the history of people’s pain conflated with the history of political conflict in the country that is considered to have one of the longest historical roots in Southeast Asia.

16 July – 13 August 2022