art galleries

[hawaiijohn]

On my next trip to LOS, I am interested in acquiring some original paintings but not the usual tourist stuff you see in the stalls, store fronts, etc. Something distinctive in style, maybe even out of the ordinary. Hard to explain but" I'll know it when I see it" type of thing. Is there a place in Bangkok that specializes in art galleries?

I'm also interested in Buddha images in sculpture or painting, again not of the mass produced type in the stalls but not the expensive antiquities either. I'm familiar with the shops on Sukhumvit so something outside of there.

[Guest]

FYI--The December issue of Metro Magazine (BKK) has a pretty large listing of galleries. Many are in the Silom corridor. I am not an aficianado....just trying to help. Metro Magazine also is on line. I don't have the URL handy, but I'll send it to you via PM if you request.

[Guest]

there are lots of art galleries around. just check the current exhibitions in the newspapers. unfortunately there are rarely interesting exhibitions. you have either boring landscapes or rather poor imitations of modern art from else where.

there are though a few internationally renowned artists, and you might be able to buy pieces from artists who have their work in all the important museums from amazingly small amounts of money.

buddhist sculptures is a very difficult topic. unortunately there is not much in between massproduced rubbish and antiques. not all old buddhas have to be expensive though. i have a rather large collection of wooden buddhas around 40 to 100 years old. they were made by village artisans, are usually not very refined but have an incredible range of expressions. i just love'em. the small ones are still affordable, but good pieces are hard to find now.

in bangkok, river city and the weekend market can be good places to look for old stuff, but you have to know what you are buying. many fakes!

proper research is important when you want to buy art or antiques. bangkok is very good to buy certain antiques, india and indonesia might be better places to find interesting modern art.

[hawaiijohn]

I am intrigued by your thoughts about the Buddha figures that you've collected. One of my hobbies is looking for Buddha's that strike me as being made by an artisan whose mind was still and could portray stillness through the image of the Buddha. I found one painting in Chiang Mai that captured that essence. Would love to hear what you look for that captures your interest.

If a Buddha image has the characteristics I'm looking for, I really don't care about the age of the figure, i.e., whether it is a fake antiquity or not since I am not going to resell it. But I do care about the price since I cannot afford anything expensive. Any hints on your experience with buying Buddhas would be appreciated.

I'll be in BKK on February 13th, going to Pattaya, Chiang Mai and then back to BKK. Any interest in getting together and , as they say in Hawaii, "talk story?"

[Raven]

Like flyonzewall, I have had some good luck at the weekend market. Some old Buddha images can be found, at least they appear old. Also, there are a couple of stalls that sell some very nice watercolors.

River City Shopping Center on the Chao Phraya River near the Sheraton is the place to go for antique Buddhas. Take the Silom line to the end, then walk about 20 minutes past the Shangrila, Oriental, and Sheraton to the shopping complex. Much of this stuff can be very expensive.

There is also a good shopping mall with many galleries on Silom Road, near the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel - sorry, can't recall the name of the mall. But its several stories high and has lots of art and antique galleries. Opposite side of the steet from Silom Village and closer to the river.

I am sure there are many other and better places, particularly if you know what you are looking for.

[Old Hippie]

Concerning the Buddha images, what are the current laws on exporting them? wasn't it outright against the law at one point?

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by Old hippie:

Concerning the Buddha images, what are the current laws on exporting them? wasn't it outright against the law at one point?

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as far as i know the law is still the same. but i have never really heard it being enforced.

i believe it mainly applies to national treasures, very rare buddhas, large pieces. and i think it definately applies to traders of thai buddhas.

small time amateur collectors like me get usually sympathetic smiles from the officers. once i had a few pieces sealed when i brought them in from cambodia, but the officers said next time i should not come, those kind of images they would not care about.

i can say with a very clear conscience that i love my collection and would never think of selling it or treating it in any disrespectful way. my experience is that in those kind of things officials tend to be very lenient. recently officials in the land office even wanted to include my name in the ownership papers of some land i bought for my girlfriend. lots of other things like that happened to me here.

[Old Hippie]

Maybe it is one of those laws that isn't inforced much, because the officials don't really understand it either! I collect a lot of Phras, the Budda necklace pieces, I was told some of them may not be allowed out, as they are rare etc...maybe it depends on how much the official likes the piece?

[Guest]

the images i am collecting are unfortunately not made anymore, a culture which appearantly has died.

i have a set of for that were made about twenty years ago, but that are the youngest i have ever found.

some people call these images lao buddhas, i prefer to call them "bucha buddhas".

they were made usually for the fullfillment of certain vows by village artisans, and given to temples or caves (some were also placed in caves where famous eremite monks were living).

some of them are rather refined (mainly the older ones), others have a beautyful rough primitive charm. their faces have all the human expressions, they can be humorous, meditative, serious, any expression you can imagine.

experts can see the age by the color of laquor they are sometimes covered with, some of them have "yan" scriptures at the base, some covered with gold, others painted in bright colors, or just plain wood. the kind of wood which is mainly used is teak, redwood, or the wood of banjantrees (most figures from isaarn are banjanwood).

there is not much literature about them. it seems they are widely neglected by the serious collectors market, but found in burma, thailand, cambodia, laos. thais themselves only very recently started collecting them. thais don't really like them, they prefer the very expensive casted buddhas made by professional artists, or amulets with magic powers.

for me these wooden ones represent much more the kind of buddhism in the area, the human buddhism in the villages as opposed to the orthodox buddhism of the scriptures.

there is nothing more beautyful than going into the cavetemples of laos, where sometimes thousands of these images are around, from tiny small ones to ones which are over three meters tall.

give me a mail when you come, but i can't promise anything. i am either out of job (that's when you see me posting a lot) or i am incredibly busy, nothing in between.

 

the place at silom is in the former jewelery trade centre, called galleria i think. there are also a few galleries with not so cheap modern art from south east asia.

[Pom_Jao_Choo]

flyonzewall I really enjoyed your posting about Budha images. I would love to hear you

expound more about the subject. What about making a report on hunting for them or just

general posting on the subject, your knowledge and insight in the subject is appreciated thanks.