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Natee Utarit
Natee Utarit (B. 09 April 1970) is a reown Thai contemporary artist from Bangkok, Thailand. Natee's artworks have been exhibit in various countries around the world. He is regard to be one of the most well known Thai contemporary artist in the post-modern era. .

Biography
Natee Utarit was born in 1970 in Bangkok, where he lives. He studied at the College of Fine Art, and graduated in Graphic Arts at the Painting and Sculpture Faculty at Silpakorn University, both in Bangkok. During his art studies at Silpakorn University, he was influenced by classical art, but also by theories of postmodernism that deconstruct classicism connecting it to modern concerns.

His international career dates back to the late 1980's, participating in group exhibitions such as the Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art Brisbane (1999), Next Move: Contemporary Art from Thailand at La Salle College of the Arts (2003) or Traces of Siamese Smile: Art, Faith, Politics and Love at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center (2008). Recent solo exhibitions include The Amusement of Dreams, Hope and Perfection at the Art Center of Chulalongkorn University (2007) and Natee Utarit: After Painting at the Singapore Art Museum (2010). His work is part of renowned collections, such the Bangkok University, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Singapore Art Museum, as well as private collections in Europe and Asia.

Early life
Initially influenced by German Expressionism and abstract art in his early body of work, Utarit has undergone an exploration on the medium of painting connecting it with photography and classical Western art. Light and perspective are some of the elements the artist choses to work with, focusing on painting as a means to explore image making. In the last decade, his paintings have been inspired by old masters of Western art history from the Italian Renaissance - such as Fra Angelico (1395-1455) or Paolo Uccello (1397-1475) - and the Baroque era, approaching in a critical way Thai social subject matters.

Between 2009 and 2011, Thailand was living a series of political contradictions that were affecting public life in the country. It was more a crisis connected to power relations and Buddhist belief rather than just an economical crisis related to the country's development. For the artist, Thai's current crisis is intangible and therefore complex to understand as it is happening in Thai's soul: "It is a crisis that strikes at the heart of some of our most treasured illusions, those which have sustained us for centuries and that only we Thais can understand in the context of our own society and our own cultural beliefs." ..

Natee's artworks is part of many renowned collections, such the Bangkok University, Bangkok, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, British Council, Bangkok, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Thailand, Lasalle-SIA Collecge of the Arts, Singapore,Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, Fine Art Museum of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, Burger Collection, Hong Kong and Switzerland as well as private collections in Europe and Asia. Utarit’s multifaceted practice focuses on the exploration of the medium of painting connecting it with photography and classical Western art. Light and perspective are some of the elements the artist chose to work with, focusing on painting as a means to explore image making. His complex pictures, juggle wideranging metaphors usually in the format of the traditional still life, allude to Thailand’s current social and political landscapes. .

Professional Career and Exhibitions
Natee's works have been described as a combination of philosophy, beliefs, religious view, history, knowledge on various elements from various centuries and experimentation (on connecting between his artworks and historical cultures from the Western world). The artist also uses photographs as a communication tool, creating a visionary view presenting cultures and an informative background on the relationships between western and eastern cultures, respectively. Thus, Natee's works often be regard as finding newer perspective by creating a figurative which differs from the origin / tradition views. With that, the artist's uses of sociopolitical and religious point of views to craft up his works of arts, reflecting both contemporary point of view and hidden messages for the audience to comprehends and thinks through various visuals and forms.

Natee's recent solo exhibitions include, Metafysica! at Tonsberg, Norway 2019, De Ja Vu: Made in Cloister at Naples, Italy 2019, "Altar Pieces" Bangkok Art Biennale at Bangkok, Thailand 2018-2019, “Illustration of The Crisis” at ARNDT Berlin, Germany 2012 and at Art Season Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland 2011, “After Painting” at the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore 2010 and “The Amusement of Dreams, Hope and Perfection” at the Art Center of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand 2007.

Selected group exhibitions are for instance, “Negotiating Home, History and Nation: Two decades of contemporary art in Southeast Asia 1991-2011” at the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore 2011 and “Clouds, Power of Asian Contemporary Art” at the Soka Art Center, 798, Beijing, China 2010. His work is part of renowned collections, such the Bangkok University, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Singapore Art Museum, as well as private collections in Europe and Asia.

Natee's most outstandings works worth mentioning included are "Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces", a solo exhibitions which been exhibited various countries in both museums level and art institutions. In the year 2018, the book "Natee Utarit: Optimism is Ridiculous" was published. The book includes information on history of fine arts and research on the painting itself. Moreover, Demetrio Paparoni (a well known curator, art critique and writer from Italy) takes the honour and privilege on the making of this book.