LIFE
By Jakkee Kongkaew
27 August – 28 September 2024
ARDEL’s Third Place Gallery
(Thonglor soi 10)
"Half of life has already passed before one can understand its meaning."
The average lifespan of a person is only 70 years. Each of us has to struggle and gain experiences to find the meaning and value of life. The exhibition "Life" is a journey that treks into the existence of Jakkee Kongkaew, the artist who devoted himself to woodcut printmaking through physical strength that creates lines on wooden boards and through the lines that tell the stories of his own accumulated experiences.
He fought relentlessly, fueled by his love for art, to create and exchange art for survival, until he could support his parents and family. The past 40 years gave him challenges and triumphs, shaping him into a stronger and more capable individual to a certain extent.
The artworks in this series express an explosion of emotions, feelings, and thoughts, depicting the resilience and vulnerability of animals like pigs, fish, and other creatures that unknowingly give themselves for human use. The underlying question is: when animals contribute so much to humans, what can humans give back to the world, and in what way?
Jakkee Kongkaew is a printer who has worked in the woodcut discipline for a long period of time. He was also close to his teacher and 1998 National Artist in visual art (printmaking), Professor Emeritus Prayat Pongdam. Jakkee creates his woodblock by using several techniques throughout the process of his carving, weaving various lines to form light and shadows resulting in a beautiful reproduction of realistic volumes and textures. His works of art have won several awards at national art contests. He has also exhibited his work in several solo and group exhibitions.