Filed under: info | Tags: art scene, Aung Soe Min, ကိုချို, ဧကဇာချို, burma, economy, Eikaza Cho, Esmer Golluoglu, Guardian, IMAA, Independent Myanmar Artist Association, Independent Myanmar Artists Alliance, lawkanat, lokanat, Pansodan Art Gallery, pansodan gallery, Rangoon, Richard Texier, Yangon
A recent article in The Guardian included Pansodan co-owner Aung Soe Min’s comments. He is in there as one of the ‘winners’ in the changing business environment.
Here’s to hopes that almost all the winners are Burmese, or at least that benefits are fairly divided among those who sincerely work hard for the success of an enterprise — and not ‘fairly’ in the sense of ‘they are poor so they get only a poor share and should be glad of it; we are rich so we are the ones who get the money’.
There has been plenty of research on quality of life that shows that it depends on the perception of having a meaning or purpose to one’s life, and a warm social life with friends and family. Yet, when it comes to development, it is all about money. There is even a new trend to look at migration as something entirely positive as a development process — people migrate to Dubai or Australia or wherever, earn vastly more (i.e., are vastly more productive in economics terms), send remittances home, and thus are creators of development. True enough in pure economics terms, but this ignores the sacrifices that the migrants are making in non-economic factors, and the loss of social capital in their home community. (I am a migrant myself, so obviously not against migration, but I do not like to see it portrayed in black-and-white terms.) We know migrants who are important artists in various fields in Burma, but as migrants work in factories or do other work entirely unrelated to their talents. Those of us remaining behind, who appreciated their art regret this change in the meaning of their lives.
Pansodan’s contribution to improve the life or artists in their own country is the Independent Myanmar Artist Alliance, mentioned in the Guardian article. It was the idea of Aung Soe Min, and is hosted by Pansodan Gallery. It is a new model of professional association — somewhat like a union, but without most of the bureaucracy and positions that, no matter how noble the initial ideas, later tend to be used for obstruction and gain, or simply to lose their dynamism.
A few new drawings of the Lokanat, spirit of peace through art, by Eikaza Cho.
Filed under: exhibit | Tags: ကိုချို, စိုးနိုင်, စောလင်းအောင်, ထားဝယ်လေး, မျိုးညွန့်ခင်, ရဲဝင်းအောင်, အိမ်အေးကျော်, ဧကဇာချို, burmese art, callie enlow, Dawei Lay, Eain Aye Kyaw, Eikaza Cho, ein aye kyaw, Han Tin Swe, inside/outside, ko cho, myanmar art, myo nyunt khin, saw lin aung, soe naing, Ye Win Aung
The Inside/Outside exihibition was at the SateFL!GHT Gallery, 2332 S. Presa, in San Antonio, Texas in November 2011. It has now concluded, but some items are still available online.
In early 2011, Callie Enlow spent months teaching in Yangon, and — who wouldn’t? — succumbed to the fascination of the possibilities of the country. Many people feel for the people, but only a few choose to do something about it. Callie is one of those people. She took a route through art. She has carefully chosen paintings from eight artists and arranged an exhibition in San Antonio.
None of this art will make anyone think “That’s realistic, isn’t it!” But then, Burma does not make you think that either.
The art is wonderful, Callie is knowledgeable, and we hope that people will gather their friends, go there, admire the art, be drawn in more deeply, and deepen their understanding of our world, whether through talking to Callie, enjoying the art, or both.
A map showing the gallery is here.
More information about it can be found at this link, and thanks to SMART too!
Filed under: exhibit | Tags: ကိုချို, ဇွဲရန်နိုင်, ဧကစာချို, ben mitchell, brighton, Brighton Festival, burmese art, cho, Eikaza Cho, ekaza cho, inside stories, ko cho, myanmar art, urban times, zwe yan naing
A good article on the Burma-themed Brighton Festival was published in the Urban Times. The response to the Burmese contemporary art there was enthusiastic. One of the artists there is one of our favourites, Eikaza Cho.
“Before my brush touches the canvas, I don’t predetermine what I am going to paint.”
Ko Cho (Mr Cho), as he is known, has a particular use of colour, line and distortion which play out unpredictably in his exercise books and in paper work. Many of his works are fully abstract or feature recurrent motifs such as the owl, cat or figures from the spirit world such as the Lokanat, guardian spirit of the world.
About a dozen paintings are still in London. If you saw anything there that you are kicking yourself for not having bought, contact suriyagallery on gmail dot com.
Ben Mitchell designer, Zwe Yan Naing artist
See more of Ben Mitchell’s design and photography work on flickr and behance; see more of Zwe Yan Naing’s work here.
Ben Mitchell photographer, Eikaza Cho artist
See more about Eikaza Cho.
Sunday, 20 March 2011 is the last day this exhibition of Eikaza Cho’s work. In addition to his paintings, his notebooks will be on display for the first time. Ko Cho’s playful lines, varied subjects — how many artists paint a colourful fly? — and lively compositions are all evident in his notebooks. Come in from 10 to 6 for a peek at the works we love and a sampling of his new series.
Filed under: art conversation, exhibit | Tags: ကိုချို, Eikaza Cho, ko cho, zach hyman
Boundless Lines: The Notebooks of a Color Composer
Although Eikaza Cho is a very skilled artist with a broad portfolio of important works, some of the most striking examples of his creativity lie within a series of ordinary-looking school notebooks. Upon looking into them, one realizes immediately that these are no ordinary school notebooks, but rather a glimpse into the aesthetic testing ground of a well-established force in Myanmar’s illustrator world. A series of hybridizations of abstraction and cartoon, figures and fantasy, the contents of these notebooks is a glimpse into the creative day-in-day-out exercises and experimentations of a skilled illustrator.
“Before my brush touches the canvas, I don’t give any thought to what I am going to paint.” With this in mind, the whimsical sketches contained within these notebooks are all the more interesting. Upon recognizing the truly spontaneous and unconsidered lineage of these figments of Eikaza Cho’s imagination, one can see them as sort of “aesthetic aerobics” – beautiful byproducts of the daily honing of his creative ability, the stretching of his formidable creative muscle.
This is to say nothing of his canvas works, which will also be included. Traces of influence in the form of Kandinsky and Miro can be seen in his renditions and re-interpretations of traditional Myanmar deities, animals, and legendary figures, although each is instilled with a unique twist of Eikaza Cho’s unique aesthetic sensibility.
Eikaza Cho’s notebooks will be part of an exhibition of his work at Pansodan Gallery, opening on 14 March.
By Zach Hyman
For more art conversations, click on the ‘art conversation’ tag at the top of this post.
![Cho Buddha 1 [CM]](http://pansuriya.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/cho-buddha1.jpg)
![Cho Marionettes [RGN]](http://pansuriya.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/cho-marionettes.jpg)
![Cho Nude 13 [CM]](http://pansuriya.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/cho-nude.jpg)
![Cho Worlds [sold]](http://pansuriya.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/cho-worlds.jpg)
Filed under: exhibit | Tags: aung khaing, aung ko, Ba Htay Kyi, dawai lay, Eikaza Cho, ein aye kyaw, kin maung yin, Ko Ko Naing, ko thee, lynn wanna, min zaw, myint san myint, Myint Soe, myo nyunt khin, saw lin aung, shwe thein, sit moe aung, soe naing, tamalar, than htay maung, win tint, zaw zaw, zwe yan naing
Never trapped in the moment. Continually changing and seeking. Continually challenging and redefining. Continually shifting and questioning. We all slip along time into the future, revising our conceptions and refining our perceptions.
This exhibition of contemporary art is an invition to re-interpretation. On display is a selection of paintings and multi-media works to explore — new aesthetics, emerging meanings, new generation — to bring you to diverse vantage points from which to re-evaluate your impressions.
Come to the exhibit and free your mind into the art as the artists have freed their inspiration. Some will reveal meanings, some will confound. You may choose to assign a title — but you may find yourself taking it away again, refining, questioning, seeking.
Featuring thirty artists working in a variety of media, on display from 10 – 15 December 2010, from 10 to 18:00 at Pansodan Gallery, No. 286 Pansodan Street, upper block, Yangon
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Filed under: exhibit | Tags: aung min min, aung moe win, cosu, Eikaza Cho, ekaza cho, hein thit, kaung htet, ko cho, ko ko gyi, ko su, kyaw own, kyaw thaung, lu tin, ma hmwe, maung maung thu ya, mg mg thu ya, Moat Thone, mocha, moe htet moe, myo nyunt, myo nyunt khin, nay tun, nyan shein, nyi nge, shwe kyaw lin, sit moe aung, soe naing, than kywe, thein thein, thet nyunt, tin htut latt, tin maung oo, watercolor, watercolour, win tint, win zaw
The new exhibition starts today — a great variety of watercolours. Open until 28 February, from 10.00 to 18.00.
Pansodan Gallery itself has recently shown itself to be waterproof and smokeproof — it came through a fire in the building without damage to the many artworks displayed and stored on the premises. There was some damage to the rooms, but none to the art.
With thanks to the firefighters.
Filed under: exhibit | Tags: abstract art, Aung Myint, Ba Htay Kyi, bagi aung soe, bagyi aung soe, bagyiaungsoe, Dawei Lay, Eikaza Cho, kin maung yin, Ko Ko Naing, Lynn Wunna, Maung Di, Minn Zaw, Moat Thone, Myint Soe, Nay Myo Say, non-figurative, Nyein Chang Su, Rahula, santiniketan, soe naing, Zaw Mong, zero
“Do not think the small number zero unworthy, insignificant, and unimportant.”
Bagyi Aung Soe (1924-90)
Bagyi Aung Soe was a pioneer of modern art in Burma. He drew and painted in a wide variety of styles and media. His illustrations for books and magazines were familiar to a large public.
After coming back from a year at Rabindranath Tagore’s Śāntiniketan, he is credited with the first abstract painting in Burma, an illustration published in Shumawa magazine in early 1953. It was highly controversial at the time, with some people saying that Bagyi Aung Soe was mad. But he had a supreme confidence in what he was doing, and continued to explore wherever his freedom took him.
His work, which often incorporates text into drawings, continued to impress with its intelligence and originality.
You can find more of his work and thought at this excellent website:
http://www.bagyiaungsoe.com/
And you can find an article on him, with 20 good-quality reproductions of his work here:
http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/JBS2006-Ker.pdf
Here is his book စာမဲ့ကဗျာ (Poetry without words), an e-book which unfortunately has low-resolution images.
Best of all you will see his work in person if you can make your way to Pansodan Gallery between 7 – 13 December. Bagyi Aung Soe’s work will be accompanied by the work of 16 other modern artists:
Aung Myint, Ba Htay Kyi, Dawei Lay, Eikaza Cho, Kin Maung Yin, Ko Ko Naing, Lynn Wunna, Maung Di, Minn Zaw, Moat Thone, Myint Soe, Nay Myo Say, Nyein Chang Su, Rahula, Soe Naing, Zaw Mong
