Arts Network Exhibitions

Scene from a Wake


An exhibition by Anup Mathew Thomas, the second winner of Han Nefkens Foundation – BACC Award for Contemporary Art 
Opening reception on Thursday 4 February 2016 at 18.00 hrs.


In Scene from a Wake, Anup Mathew Thomas presents a set of works that look at disparate incidents spread out over a century. Protagonists include a social reformer, a planter, a dentist, a restaurateur, a bishop, and an artist. Thomas continues to build up his collection of stories from one place, persistently archiving alternative moments from different histories, some of which then come together based on commonalities that may be odd but are significant. In Scene from a Wake, Thomas puts forward the breakdown of plans, inescapable outcomes and the future as a space ripe for speculation.
 
Anup Mathew Thomas (b.1977) lives and works in Bengaluru, India. He works primarily with the photograph and is interested in the slippages between documentary and artistic practice. Often working in series, Thomas’ images offer access to microhistories and subcultures embedded in the seemingly everyday. Situated between the documentary form and constructed images, his practice is consistently in dialogue with the complexities of representation through the photographic image. 
 
In the words of curator and writer Melanie Pocock: "Thomas' works focus on the nuances and prickly veracity of photography… A careful balancing of planning, framing and contingency, his photographs fuse these elements to the point where their exact makeup is almost impossible to define – despite their accompaniment by explanatory texts authored by the artist." 
 
About the Han Nefkens Foundation – BACC Award for Contemporary Art 
 
The Han Nefkens Foundation – BACC Award for Contemporary Art is a collaboration between the Han Nefkens Foundation and the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). The award is aimed at up-and-coming artists under 40 living in Asia. The long list of candidates is put together by ten scouts from different areas in Asia who each select three artists. A jury then chooses the winning artist. 
 
This biannual award seeks to encourage artists in Asia who already have a solid body of work but have not yet been showcased in major institutions. The award consists of 15,000 US dollars: a $3,000 artist’s fee and $12,000 towards the production of new work as well as a residency and an exhibition at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.
 
The Han Nefkens Foundation – BACC Award for Contemporary Art is a collaboration between the Han Nefkens Foundation and the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.
 
The Han Nefkens Foundation promotes and enables the production of art by young, up-and-coming artists by financing the production of work and providing a platform to show the pieces through collaboration with international art institutes.
 
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) visualises itself as a centre of cultural diversity for sustainable social development with a main mission to promote arts and culture within the local community as well as encourage arts and culture dialogue between artists and general public. 
 
For more information
Ms.Laila Bunnag
Arts Network Department (International Relations), Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)
Tel: 02 214 6630-8 ext. 528 Fax: 02 214 6639