Artist-to-Artist: Wantanee Siripattananuntakul Proposed by Rirkrit Tiravanija

'Wantanee uses artistic tropes gleaned and regurgitated from Western models to address everyday impacts in Thai society. She questions opportunity and power, is critical and ironic.' – Rirkrit Tiravanija

Presented by Gallery Ver at Frieze London

Siripattananuntakul is recognised for exploring the potential of works of art to raise social questions and increase awareness of social issues. In 2007, she was chosen to be the representative of Thai artists to join the 53rd Venice Biennale and she is one of 13 Thai emerging artists who were chosen by Bangkok collectors in 2016. Most of her renowned past works are in the forms of video art, sculptures and installations based on the utilization of many new forms of media.

Tiravanija writes: 'Growing up in Thailand, Wantanee was exposed to both social and cultural conditions of Thai society, which has greatly impacted her artistic sensibilities and critical approach shaping her political, economic and social message. From her myth-shattering exhibition in 2012 about occupational compensation, to the examination of unfair money flow within Thai economy in 2015 and the 2018 homeownership rights survey, Wantanee, uses artistic tropes, regurgitated and gleaned from Western models, to address everyday social impacts of Thai societal conditions.'

Wantanee Siripattananuntakul

b. 1974, Thai; lives and works in Bangkok

Wantanee Siripattananuntakul’s artworks take a critical view on social, political, economic and cultural issues. Each project often consists of different media such as sculptures, sound, videos and interactive installations, grouped around specific themes and messages.

Rirkrit Tiravanija

b. 1961, Thai; lives and works in New York, Berlin and Chiang Mai

Rirkrit Tiravanija is known for a practice that overturns traditional exhibition formats in favour of social interactions of shared everyday activities such as cooking, eating and reading. Creating environments that reject the primacy of the art object, and focusing instead on use value and the bringing of people together through simple acts and environments of communal care, Tiravanija’s work challenges expectations around labour and virtuosity. Tiravanija is on the faculty of the School of the Arts at Columbia University and is a founding member and curator of Utopia Station, a collective project of artists, art historians and curators. He also helped establish an educational-ecological project known as The Land Foundation, located near Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Further Information

Frieze London takes place concurrently with Frieze Masters from 11–15 October in The Regent’s Park, London.

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_{Main Image: Wantanee Siripattananuntakul, And yet the Earth is moved, 2023, fiberglass, 22 × 5 × 150 cm}