Mr. Shadow 2

2018 - Photography (Photography)

112.5 x 167 cm

Nontawat Numbenchapol


The series of prints titled Mr. Shadow by Nontawat Numbenchapol engages with the history of and current state of militarization in Thailand. Each print features an invisible person, their silhouette only outlined by the military fatigues that they wear. The faceless figure in each work is pictured either in solitude or interacting with other camouflage-swathed ghosts. Ironically, the camouflage attire of each figure is the only part of them that is not erased by the artist. Photographed on a mountain range at the border between Shan State in Myanmar and Northern Thailand, the Mr. Shadow series epitomizes the haunting presence and effects of a militarized modernity and nation-state building across the region. An outlier in the photo series, this image features a solitary figure in civilian clothes. He leans casually against a motorcycle, seemingly in a state of waiting, his military cap hangs from a beam above his head ominously. The image is reminiscent of a fashion catalogue advertisement for cologne or high-end clothing brand. The pastoral scene also emphasizes the landscape—a geography contested and dominated by violence, dispossession, displacement, and migration. Though the compositions and imagery may differ across the images, what ties this series together is a temporal tension; there is a discernible sense of latent expectancy or apprehension that permeates the figures in waiting.


Nontawat Numbenchapol is primarily known as a film director and television screenwriter, widely recognized for his documentary work. His moving image work is considered part of Thailand’s film wave exploring politics and the social sphere through poetics and cinematography. His work often unpacks societal and historical complexities in the porous geographies of inland Southeast Asia. Through an experimental documentary aesthetic, Numbenchapol’s work captures the stories of local people, refugees and immigrants, people marginalized by neo-colonial capitalism, and portrays them as living archives. He has made films and photographic installations concerning the contested Thai-Cambodia border and the holy archaeological site at its epicentre. Numbenchapol’s Mobile Lab Project researches experimental ways of visual and sound perception in humans.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

Météo des forêts
© » SLASH PARIS

Météo des forêts — La MABA — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Météo des forêts — La MABA — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Météo des forêts Exhibition Film, installation, mixed media Upcoming Julien Prévieux et Virginie Yassef, L’Arbre, 2009 — Image : Élie Godard Film Super 8 transféré sur DVD — 7 min 18 — Ed 4 + 2 Courtesy des artistes Météo des forêts In about 1 month: January 18 → April 7, 2024 La MABA présente, du 18 janvier au 7 avril 2024, Météo des forêts : une exposition collective réunissant des travaux d’artistes de diverses générations travaillant différents médiums (dessin, photographie, vidéo, sculpture, installation…)...

Newly Discovered Oil Sketch By John Constable Fetches £200,000
© » ARTLYST

An newly attributed oil sketch by the renowned 19th-century English landscape painter John Constable has gone under the hammer in Guernsey...

Flowers for Africa : Namibia
© » KADIST

Kapwani Kiwanga

2017

Flowers for Africa is a protocol project started in 2014, which questions the material that history is made of: its fragility, its infallibility, its visibility and its hierarchy...

Country diary: Prime walking country with literary connections | Jim Perrin
© » THE GUARDIAN

Country diary: Prime walking country with literary connections | Walking | The Guardian Skip to main content Skip to navigation Skip to navigation ‘Artists and writers congregated here in the Vale of Ewyas between the wars.’ The view over Capel-y-Ffin, Black Mountains, Wales...

The working processes of artists: Grace Lee-Khoo
© » ARTS EQUATOR

The working processes of artists: Grace Lee-Khoo | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints July 7, 2020 Applied theatre practitioner Grace Lee-Khoo shares about the work of disability-led arts company Access Path Productions, which she founded in 2018...

Radcliffe Bailey, an artist who examined Black American experience, has died at 55.
© » ARTSY

Radcliffe Bailey, an artist who examined Black American experience, has died at 55...

A walkthrough of If These Stones Could Sing
© » KADIST

A walkthrough of the exhibition If These Stones Could Sing February 7–April 21, 2018, KADIST San Francisco With Milena Bonilla, Public Movement, Arin Rungjang, Shitamichi Motoyuki, Emilija Škarnulyte, Sriwhana Spong...

Karina Sharif gives Black femmes a voice through her art
© » I-D VICE ART

Karina Sharif gives Black femmes a voice through her art advertisement...

Owen Dippie “Anima” In Honor Of Artist Max Gimblett
© » BROOKLYN STREET ART

Owen Dippie “Anima” In Honor Of Artist Max Gimblett | Brooklyn Street Art BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY In Auckland, New Zealand, a new mural emerges from the city’s urban landscape, capturing one essence of New Zealand’s artistic evolution...

A Warehouse Full of Art: What Will Happen to Silvio Berlusconi’s Collection? - via The Art Newspaper
© » LARRY'S LIST

Italy’s controversial former prime minister, who died in June, amassed tens of thousands of works—of varying quality...

Météo des forêts
© » SLASH PARIS

Météo des forêts — La MABA — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook Météo des forêts — La MABA — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour Météo des forêts Exposition Film, installations, techniques mixtes À venir Julien Prévieux et Virginie Yassef, L’Arbre, 2009 — Image : Élie Godard Film Super 8 transféré sur DVD — 7 min 18 — Ed 4 + 2 Courtesy des artistes Météo des forêts Dans environ un mois : 18 janvier → 7 avril 2024 La MABA présente, du 18 janvier au 7 avril 2024, Météo des forêts : une exposition collective réunissant des travaux d’artistes de diverses générations travaillant différents médiums (dessin, photographie, vidéo, sculpture, installation…)...

Rubber Man
© » KADIST

Khvay Samnang

2014

The video Rubber Man continues exploring issues related to land use, also noticeable in his Untitled series (2011)...

Areng Valley, Koh Kong Province, Wrapped Future II Series
© » KADIST

Lim Sokchanlina

2018

The photographic series Wrapped Future II by Lim Sokchanlina brings fences used on construction sites to enclose the surrounding areas, to different locations, lakes, valleys and forests; and places them at the center of works to obscure the beautiful Cambodian landscape...

Cao Shu, OCAT x KADIST Artist-in-residence 2022
© » KADIST

OCAT Shanghai and KADIST are pleased to announce that artist Cao Shu has been selected for a research residency at KADIST San Francisco as part of the OCAT x KADIST Emerging Media Artist Residency Program 2022...

Pentti Monkkonen at Rob Tufnell
© » CONTEMPORARYARTDAILY

Documentation of Pentti Monkkonen at Rob Tufnell, London is featured on Contemporary Art Daily....

Maayan Amir & Ruti Sela
© » KADIST

Maayan Amir & Ruti Sela June 11 – July 31, 2011 In their inidual practices Maayan Amir and Ruti Sela explore issues of national identity through the intricate scope of authority, morality and sexuality...

Watch a Bay Area Hip-Hop Game Show
© » KQED

Watch a Bay Area Hip-Hop Game Show | KQED Skip to Nav Skip to Main Skip to Footer That's My Word Watch a Bay Area Hip-Hop Game Show Gabe Meline Dec 1 Save Article Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Facebook Share-FB Twitter Share-Twitter Email Share-Email Copy Link Copy Link It started as an improbable idea: What if KQED hosted a game show about Bay Area hip-hop? What if we pulled contestants out of the crowd to test their knowledge on Mac Dre, Andre Nickatina and Too Short? Like Jeopardy meets Name That Tune , but make it player? The result was That’s My Word: A Bay Area Hip-Hop Game Night , starting at about 23:30 in the video above...

Wadada Leo Smith: Ankhrasmation: The Language Scores
© » KADIST

Over the past 50 years, contemporary jazz and creative music pioneer, composer, educator, and visual artist, Wadada Leo Smith, has continually developed a his own unique musical language...

Residencia Milan 1
© » KADIST

Juan Araujo

2010

Residencia Milan 1 is a painting of a house surrounded by lush forest...

Mysterious Magritte Painting Could Fetch $63M at Auction
© » HYPERALLERGIC

Mysterious Magritte Painting Could Fetch $63M at Auction Skip to content René Magritte, “L’ami intime (The Intimate Friend)” (1958), oil on canvas, 28.5/8 x 25.1/2 inches (image courtesy the Gilbert and Lena Kaplan Collection and Christie’s London) In a centenary celebration of the artistic and literary movement spawned by André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto (1924), Christie’s London will host its Art of the Surreal evening sale on March 7 with a leading highlight that hasn’t been shown since 1998...