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Worship under scrutiny in Natee Utarit’s ‘Optimism is Ridiculous’


Just in time for Lent: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman" is one of the 12 pieces from Thai artist Natee Utarist's exhibit now on display at Ayala Museum in Makati City until April 9. Photo: Aya Tantiangco
 

It's a season of reflection for the devout and at Ayala Museum, Thai artist Natee Utarit's grand paintings stand as an invitation to contemplate traditions—religious or otherwise.

"Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces" is on display at Ayala Museum until April 9. The exhibit brings together for the first time 12 pieces from Utarit's satirical series, which he began working on in 2012.

The scale of Utarit's neoclassical works inspires awe and the thought in the composition demands appreciation. The use of divine imagery could easily be confused as a commentary on religion, but it is worship that the artist wants to highlight.

What do people consider divine?

His paintings are populated with disenchanted people, clearest perhaps in the adjacent pieces "Allegory of the Beginning and Acceptance" and "Allegory of the End and Resistance", where Utarit presents two versions of Adam and Eve: before and after The Fall.

"Allegory of the Beginning and Acceptance" (left) and "Allegory of the End and Resistance." Photo: Ayala Museum
 

In "Allegory of the Beginning and Acceptance", Utarit presents equality by painting the pair as skeletons posing modestly. There is a hint of their eventual exile at the base of the Tree of Life and over their heads, Voltaire is quoted: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

In an accompanying text, Asia Society Museum director Boon Hui Tan observes, "Rather than being a cynical retort, it is a statement affirming the need for man to believe in the existence of an absolute moral universe, and in fact, to imagine it into existence if need be."

Utarit affirms this in "Allegory of the End and Resistance," where flesh is added to Adam and Eve. Both assume a posture familiar to anyone scrolling through Instagram and the vanity is all too evident. On Adam's arm is a tribute to the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Here Utarit strikes at modernism and capitalism. His work should not be simplified as a rejection of the selfie culture. Instead, it studies the corruption of the divine through consumerism.

In "Nescientia," the art industry itself is placed under scrutiny. One could mistake the scene as a commodification of religion, but it is a visual remark on "art as a new religion" or the commercialization of art as a false idol.

"Nescientia." Photo: Ayala Museum
 

Utarit also revisits the famous Jean Paul-Sartre quote "l'enfer, c'est les autres" or "hell is other people." Boon Hui Tan writes about the painting inspired by the quote: "Natee has taken this to mean that we are our worse enemies, not gods, monsters or demons. Indeed the works depicts the modern world’s turning away from the gods of the past."

"L'enfer, c'est les autres." Photo: Aya Tantiangco
 

In another painting, "In the Name of God", Utarit discusses colonialism and imperialism by studying the exchange between European adventurers and Asian locals. It is interesting to note that religion is a Western commodity sold in former colonies. It asks again: What...rather, who is considered divine?

Utarit's paintings seem to belong to a different era and Boon Hui Tan opines that his style is an antithesis to the pop art movement that is currently trending. His work is an introspection on "Vox populi, vox Dei"—a necessary exercise in a world filled with the deafening screeching of populists.

"Passage To The Song Of Truth And Absolute Equality." Photo: Aya Tantiangco
 

"Optimism is Ridiculous: The Altarpieces" opened in February, but it is the perfect pilgrimage to make this Lent. There is much to unpack in Utarit's images and it might insert the somberness back to the season now associated with beach trips. — BM, GMA News

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