Dark Was The Night We Found Light

Dark Was The Night We Found Light

Artists: Justin Lee (Singapore) Natalia Ludmila (Mexico) 

Prasert Yodkaew (Thailand) 

Pornwipa Suriyakarn (Thailand)

Venue: INSTINC @SOHO2, 12 Eu Tong Sen St #04-163, Singapore 059819

Opening Night: Thursday, 28 July 2022 | 6 - 9 PM

Exhibition: 28 July - 7 August 2022 | 11 AM - 7 PM

Artists talk: Saturday, 30 July 2022 | 2PM - 3PM

INSTINC and 1PROJECTS present a joint exhibition: Dark Was the Night We Found Light. As we the world over embark on a different and unknown future. Yet to overcome the remnants of a disquieting upstart to the second decade of the millennium. More often than not, the imminent reality of what is now and to come seems dark, uncertain and perhaps even fearsome.

We may face some of the most significant challenges our species has come upon, yet with these also comes the opportunity for broader and deeper reflection and change. The circumstances are fit for a collective turnaround. A significant shift in ways of life if we consider the impacts and imbalances these hold within our societies and planet.

Dark Was the Night We Found Light invites us to see and question the stark realities faced by many and possibly shed light on a future already here. Yet the exhibition brings about an expectancy of hope and light within the dark by presenting playful, humorous, oniric yet poignant and thought-provoking works.

The exhibition presents four artists Justin Lee (Singapore), Natalia Ludmila (Mexico), Prasert Yodkaew (Thailand) and Pornwipa Suriyakarn (Thailand). They are brought together by the parallels within their practices and works rather than nationalities. That is to say that the concerns explored in the exhibition are not limited to one region and pertain to us all.

In his current work, Justin Lee reflects upon the mundane of our social behaviour. For Lee, social behaviour and interactions are similar to the act of exchanging objects. We hold the expectation that when we give, we will receive the same amount. In the installation Toy r LUST, Lee questions how our social behaviours are shaped not necessarily by nature but by society's constraints, structures and expectations.

In her video work, Natalia Ludmila looks into text and how it can be used for artistic research. By displaying digital collages of cites from the influential book Orientalism by Edward Said. Her work puts forward notions of colonialism and its effects on and shaping many contemporary societies.

Prasert Yodkaew poetically highlights in his video performance "Rice Falling Into the Sky" the everyday difficulties many people face. For example, to put a meal on their tables, particularly regarding daily wagers. The artist thought of this in a Thailand context, yet it is a global issue. In another work, Prasert Yodkaew presents a train passenger view of a settlement along railway tracks. This type of housing is found on the outskirts of many large urban hubs in Thailand. A large number of Thais have migrated to cities expecting a betterment in their lives. Nonetheless, faced with a high cost of living, they are forced to settle in encroachments and travel to the city for work every day.

Lastly, Pornwipa Suriyakarn works with digital collages that blend traditional and contemporary Thai imagery. Her work brings about concepts of mass media, commentary on post-truth, and contemporary Thai idiosyncrasy. The contemporary Thai character involves traditional and present-day ways of life and mindset. Her work is baroque, charged and with an overt saturation of visual elements. However, in its vastness, we are invited to take time to meditate and decipher what is in front of us, perhaps one element at a time.

About INSTINC: Founded in 2004, INSTINC is an artist-run institution based in Singapore. INSTINC has been an active player in the arts ecology through their exhibition programming and curation, as well as through community engagement through their workshops and artists’ talks. They continue to build upon regional and international ties through their long-running residency program. The vision for INSTINC is one of collaboration and connection, producing immersive large-scale projects that cross the genres of installation, new media, performance, painting and sculpture, partnering with brands such as Volvo and Guinness in the past.

INSTINC had its last exhibition at soho2 in April 2019. INSTINC resumes operation at soho2 from January 2022 as the first art space in Singapore that is dedicated to NFT art. It will host exhibitions, residencies, workshops and talks. Come and experience the digital in the physical!

About 1PROJECTS: 1PROJECTS has a wide network of contacts to source works for private, corporate or public spaces. We also work with regional artists to commission site-specific pieces. 1PROJECTS covers all aspects from art advisory to sourcing of works for collections and commissioning as well as project management and coordination all the way until delivery and final installation. Previous projects include organising gallery as well as artist studio visits as well as projects for hotels and private overseas collectors.

1PROJECTS organises Asian contemporary art projects. We seek to promote and support Asian emerging contemporary artists locally and internationally at art fairs, overseas galleries or 1PROJECTS’ own gallery space in Bangkok, Thailand.

In the past 1PROJECTS artworks by emerging young Thai and other South East Asian artists in Thailand as well as overseas. 1PROJECTS has also in the past been invited to Art Week Conversations in Singapore as a panel speaker and has participated in art fairs around the region. Founder Charuwan Chanthop has been with Whitespace Gallery Bangkok from its founding in 2006 until 2016 most recently as gallery manager and shareholder. In the past, she worked together with established artists such as Dusadee Hentrakul (TH), Tawan Wattuya (TH), Richard Streitmatter-Tran (VN), Vasan Sitthiket (TH), Yuree Kensaku (TH), or Imhathai Suwatthanasilp (TH) as well as many promising emerging Thai artists such as Pannaphan Yodmanee (TH) and others.