Chalermchai Kositpipat ( th, เฉลิมชัย โฆษิตพิพัฒน์, ; ; born 15 February 1955) is a Thai

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

. Primarily a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, Chalermchai's works have been exhibited worldwide, and he is known for his use of

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

imagery in his art.

Biography

Chalermchai Kositpipat was born into a

Sino Sino as a prefix generally refers to: * China * Chinese people * Two Chinas * Culture of China * History of China Sino may also refer to: * Sino Group, a property company in Hong Kong * ''Sino'' (Café Tacuba album), the 7th studio album by M ...

Lanna The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...

family. His father was a Chinese immigrant from Guangdong while his mother is Thai Chinese. He later attended

Silpakorn University Silpakorn University (SU.) ( th, มหาวิทยาลัยศิลปากร; ) is a national university in Thailand. The university was founded in Bangkok in 1943 by Tuscan–born art professor Corrado Feroci, who took the Thai name S ...

, which was Thailand's primary visual arts school. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Thai art in 1977. He started out painting movie advertisements on billboards. His early murals mixed traditional Thai Buddhist temple art with contemporary images, which was controversial. Nonetheless, he was commissioned 1988 to paint murals for

Wat Buddhapadipa Wat Buddhapadipa or the Buddhapadipa Temple ( th, วัดพุทธปทีป; , ) is a Thai Buddhist temple ('' wat'') in Wimbledon, London. Building work on the temple and shrine started in 1979 and it was completed in 1982. The archi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The murals took four years to complete and were controversial because of the contemporary styling. "I got complaints from everybody – from the haigovernment, from monks and from other artists, saying that what I was doing was not Thai art" he was quoted as saying in 1998. In 1980 Acharn Chalermchai Kositpipat visited

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

as his first foreign visit and stayed there for six months, studying Sri Lankan architecture, sculpture, painting and Buddhist temples. He was influenced by white statues and temples in Sri Lanka. Acharn Chalermchai worked closely with Sri Lanka's veteran artist Manju Sri. In 1980, Acharn Chalermchai had his own solo art exhibition in Lionel Wendt Art Gallery in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, Sri Lanka. After the exhibition he brought those art pieces to Thailand and sold it all. Eventually, his work became more accepted, with Thai King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

among his clients. One piece of his was sold for US$17,500 in 1998 at an auction of Thai art at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Another one of his pieces, ''Food Offering to Monks'', sold for US$59,375 on March 7, 2018. Among his works is

Wat Rong Khun Wat Rong Khun ( th, วัดร่องขุ่น), better known as the White Temple, is a privately owned art exhibit in the style of a Buddhist temple in Pa O Don Chai, Mueang Chiang Rai District, Mueang District, Chiang Rai Province, Thaila ...

, an ornate white

temple being built in his native Chiang Rai Province. Work on the temple was started in 1997, and still continues. "Only death can stop my dream but cannot stop my project" Chalermchai was quoted as saying about the temple, adding that he believes the work will give him "immortal life". He was the first visual arts honoree for the inaugural

Silpathorn Award The Silpathorn Award, th, รางวัลศิลปาธร, is an honour for living Thailand, Thai contemporary artists presented annually by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture of Thailand. The awards were estab ...

, created in 2004 to honor living Thai contemporary artists at mid-career. Later in 2011, he was honored by Thailand's National Culture Commission as a

National Artist National Artist is an honorary title issued by some states as a highest recognition of artists for their significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the nation. An equivalent title, People's Artist, has been known in countries of the f ...

References

External links

Chalermchai Kositpipat
at Rama 9 Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Kositpipat, Chalermchai 1955 births Living people Buddhist artists Chalermchai Kositpipat Chalermchai Kositpipat Chalermchai Kositpipat Chalermchai Kositpipat Chalermchai Kositpipat Chalermchai Kositpipat Chalermchai Kositpipat

Biography

See also

References

External links