Artist : Phaptawan Suwannakudt
Birth date
November 8th, 1959, at Bangkok, Thailand.
Address in Australia
32 Yule Street, Dulwich Hill NSW 2203, Australia
Tel/Fax: 61-2-9569-5495
E-mail: (address to Phaptawan Suwannakudt via) john.clark@arthist.usyd.edu.au
Permanent residence in Australia since September 1996.
Address in Thailand
29/1, Moo 11, Bangprom, Talingchan, Bangkok 10170, Thailand.
Tel: 66-2-418-5060 fax: 412-8676
also contactable by 66-2-261-0382, 261-0390-1 , fax: 261-0383
Family
Husband: John Clark [spouse since 1996]
Daughter: Cantra chaay saeng Clark [‘The moon sends its light’, born November 2nd, 1997 at Sydney]
Son: Yenlamtarn Clark [‘The cool of the stream’, born June 27th 2000 at Sydney]
Education
1980 Graduated with B.A. in Languages [English major, German minor] from Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom.
1977 Graduated from Suksanaree High School, Bangkok.
Professional Background
Freelance artist in traditional style and mural painting.
Special Instructor, Thai mural painting unit, Painting Section, SUPPORT Foundation. [The Foundation for Supplementary Occupations and Techniques, Office of Her Majesty’s Private Secretary, Chitralada Palace, Bangkok, April 1984 – February 1996].
Working Experience
1984-1996 organized and led the Tan Kudt Group of painters temple and hotel mural painting and in contemporary exhibitions of Thai traditional painting.
1981 E.S.L. teacher for Indo-Chinese refugees, Pragmatics Company Ltd., a UNHCR Project.
1970-1981 Twelve years’ painting apprenticeship to my father, the late artist in Thai style, Paiboon Suwannakudt, or Tan Kudt.
Awards
Australia Council Studio Grant for new work by an established artist, 2001.
Solo Exhibitions
2000 Buddhist Lives Exhibition, November, Tadu Gallery, Bangkok
1999 July/August, Sherman Galleries, Hargrave Street, Sydney
Group Exhibitions
2000 July-September, El Poder de Narrar [The Power of Narration, with nine artists from eight countries, catalogue texts by Kevin Power, Patrick Flores and Trinh Minh Ha], Espai d’art Cntemporani de Castello, Valenciana, Spain.
2000 February, Gang of Four, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne.
1999 November, Gang of Four [with Simryn Gill, Lindy Lee, Savandhary Vongphutorn] Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Sydney.
1998 March, Women imaging women: home, body, memory, [Artists from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam], Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila.
1997 March, co-organizer and exhibitor at Womanifesto Exhibition of work by Thai and Overseas Women artists at Concrete House, Nonthaburi and at Baan Chaopraya, Bangkok.
1995 March, Tan Kudt Group at Place of Art, Bangkok. March, Tradisexion: Five Thai Women Artists at Concrete House, Nonthaburi.
1994 October, Invited Artists Exhibition of Tadsawat group, Place of Art, Bangkok.
1993 December, Thai Art Exhibition by Art Instructors of the SUPPORT Foundation, The Montien Hotel, Bangkok.
1992 November, Art Exhibition by Eighty Artists, The Montien Hotel, Bangkok.
1992 October, Art Exhibition by Thai Women Artists, Siam City Hotel, Bangkok.
1992 March, Art Exhibition by Thai Women Artists, Contempus Gallery, Queen Sirikit Convention Center, Bangkok.
1991 November, Thai Contemporary Art Exhibition, Artists to Heart for Emergency Home The Hilton Hotel, Bangkok.
1990 April, Thai Contemporary Art Exhibition, Thai Commercial Bank, Bangkok.
1989 March, organized the Thai Contemporary Artists Exhibition with Tan Kudt Group and invited artists in Paris.
1988 August, Fourth Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group at the Thai Cultural Fair, Keio, Co. Ltd., Tokyo.
1988 July, Co-operating Advisor for Student Exhibition from painting section, SUPPORT Foundation, The Dusit Thani Hotel, Bangkok.
1987 December, Third Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group at Tsa-ho Gallerie Internationale, St.Pierre, I le de La Re union.
1986 October, Second Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group in co-operation with student work from SUPPORT Foundation graciously presided over by H.R.H. Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn at The Regent of Bangkok Hotel.
1984 March, First Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group, graciously presided over by H.R.H. Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn and H.R.H. Princess Chulabhorn at The Montien Hotel, Bangkok.
Temple Murals and other Buddhist Works
[Sizes below in square meters are only approximate ones. I usually did the designs for and supervised the painting by a team of from six to ten artists].
1999 A Buddhist Series of Tree and Flower Allegories painted during visits to Thailand and China.
1998/99 Commission from the Zen Centre, Annandale for its Gorricks’ Run meditation temple, funded by the Australia Council, for an altar painting of the Buddha in meditation.
1998 August, brief visit to Thailand to complete designs for a Mahayana Temple in Nakhon Pathom, and commence designs for a specially commissioned temple scheme by Bangkok Airways at a temple on Samui Island.
1997/88 Lives of the Buddha Screen entirely executed and completed in Sydney. The work is 1.8 x 4.32 meters overall, on the narrative theme of Buddha’s previous lives and the life of the historical Buddha.
1997 Designs for exterior gables and pediment of Buddha image at Wat Phuttharangsee, Annandale, Sydney
1996 Phutthamonthol Buddhist Center, near Bangkok [1,200 sq. m., basic designs for 86 panels of 1.8 x 8 meters. Supervisor of five teams each of seven-eight artists, about thirty-five artists overall].
1994-1995 Wat Sri Dongklang, Khon Kaen [100 sq.m.].
1994 Wat Saket, Samui, Surat Thani [complete ubosot, 200 sq.m].
1994 Completed the unfinished work of Acharn Angkarn Kalayanapon at Wat Sri Khom Kham, Phayao [figures in upper panels and Tree of Life in reredos behind main icon].
1994 Wat Tha Suthawat, Angthong [complete ubosot, 200 sq.m.] for the Royal Support Foundation. These murals were featured on a special set of Thai postage stamps in 1999.
1992/3 Wat Jaksa Phattaram, Uthai Thani [complete ubosot, 160 sq.m.].
1992 Wat Theppol, Bangkok [mondop, 12 sq.m.].
1991 Wat Ban Chang, Chonburi [complete ubosot, 140 sq.m.].
1990 Wat Sri Kom Kham, Phayao, own work on the lower narrative panels only, 220 sq.m.], graciously opened by H.R.H. Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn in January 1993.
Hotel & Office Murals
1996 Mural in residence of District Chief Officer, Tak province.
1996 Murals in Wimanthip Room, Montien Riverside Hotel, Bangkok.
1996 Murals for The Century Hotel, Bangkok.
1995 Room murals for Laguna Banyan Tree Resort, Phuket.
1995 Murals in Bangkok Airways office at Bangkok Airport.
1995 Murals in Ballroom, Montien Riverside Hotel, Bangkok.
1994 Murals for Dining Room lobby, Thai Embassy, Paris.
1993/4 Murals for Function Room, The Regent of Bangkok, Hotel.
1993/4 Lobby and other murals for Laguna Banyan Tree Resort, Phuket.
1991/3 Murals for President’s Office, Bangkok Airways.
1991/2 Lobby mural for the Royal Garden Hotel, Bangkok, 11 x 1.35 meters, on Thai silk.
1990 Mural for Thai Airways Office, Paris.
1989 Leader of the group painting Sawan / Heaven mural for the Ballroom of The Regent of Bangkok Hotel.
1989 Leader of the group painting the Koh Kaew Pisadahl / Magical Crystal mural at the Conference Room in Cape Panwa Hotel, Phuket.
1985 Leader of the group painting Muang Thong / The Golden City mural at the Coffee Shop, Silom Plaza Hotel, Bangkok.
1982/3 Assistant, then successor, to my father, the late Paiboon Suwannakudt, the original artist for Barom Ratcha Phisek / The Coronation of the King mural and the Jakrawan Thay / Thai Cosmology ceiling painting at the Lobby, The Regent of Bangkok Hotel.
1979 Assistant for mural painting and glass decoration, Montienthip Room, Montien Hotel, Bangkok.
1977 Assistant for the Lobby mural painting, Montien Hotel, Bangkok.
Selected Bibliography of Phaptawan Suwannakudt
– Maria Cheng & Lekha J. Shankar, “A way with dirty dishes: Thai muralist takes an unusual view of temple life”, [Feature] Asiaweek. 12th January, 2001.
– Pichayanund Chindahporn, “Lucid Expressions” [Feature], The Bangkok Post, 12th December 2000.
– Texts by Kevin Power and Patrick Flores in El Poder de Narrar / The Power of Narration, Espai d’ Art Contemporani de Castello, Valenciana, Spain, 2000
– Kajri Jain., “Nariphon: How to eat a bowl of noodles”, Artlink, vol.19, no 4, 1999.
– Ashley Carruthers, “Review” Eyeline, no. 41, Summer 1999/2000.
– Flaudette May Datuin, “The Queen, the Goddess, and the mural painter”, Art Asiapacific, no.14, April 1997.
– “Identities”, TAASA Review, vol.5, no.1, September 1996.
– “Portrait of the artist as a Thai woman”, The Bangkok Post Sunday Magazine, March 10-16, 1996.
– Jennifer Gampell, “Profile”, Far Eastern Economic Review, December 21, 1995.
– “Phaptawan Suwannakudt kap chitrakaam faa panang”, Satrisaan, 53/13, 1990.
