Hope In The Dark

Hope In The Dark, a new exhibition of paintings by Anupong Chantorn, opened in Bangkok yesterday. The show is named after a painting Anupong exhibited at the 2nd Bangkok Triennale last year. He caused controversy in 2007 with a painting depicting monks as scavenging birds, inspiring the butoh performance San-Dan-Ka; the new exhibition includes a similar drawing of a monk with a crow's beak, titled Vicious Circle.

Hope In The Dark also includes an even more provocative image. A drawing titled Moral Boundary shows three monks: one with an over-sized erect phallus, another being groped by the first, and a naked observer. The scene, albeit with slightly less nudity, has also been painted directly onto a monk's saffron robe.

Hope In The Dark also features an impressive collection of large bronze animal sculptures. The exhibition is at the Ardel Gallery of Modern Art until 30th January 2011.