Lot 11: LAMPU KANSANOH (b. Thailand 1983)

LAMPU KANSANOH (b. Thailand 1983)
The way of sleeping
signed and dated 'Lampu Kansanoh.2006'; signed again in Thai (lower right)
oil on canvas
59 x 90½ in. (150 x 230 cm.)

The present lot, The way of sleeping comes from young Thai artist, Lampu Kansanoh's series of satirical pictures of 'complicated' individuals in Thai society; the lifestyles of gay people, motorcycle boys and drunken individuals are the subject of the painter's interest. Depicted is a person having a mid-day nap, fingers locked together in a pose of apparent serenity. As the quasi-Buddhist title of the work hints at, the subject in the picture seems to have found true transcendence in the afternoon repose. Yet lying there amidst a cacophony of household paraphernalia as the subject does, one wonders if the painter is not actually pointing to the existence of tasks unaccomplished. Imperturbable as the subject seems, one is led to wonder if the sleep is truly sound, or if it is ultimately futile.