MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum proudly presents BLACK: Vibrant Multiple Light, an exhibition drawn from the museum's collection. The exhibition features a diverse array of media—including paintings, sculptures, photography, moving images, and installation art—created by more than 39 celebrated Thai and international artists. Some of the pieces are over fifty years old, while many others are being unveiled to the public for the first time in decades.
Within the exhibition BLACK: Vibrant Multiple Light, black manifests in various states: sometimes as a mere fraction of an image, at other times enveloping the entire space; shifting between intangible and tangible form, density and weightlessness. It occasionally functions as the very structure of a composition, or dissolves into a sensory atmosphere, creating an ambiguous space that invites viewers to peer deeper. Moving from one artwork to the next, viewers will encounter different facets of black through the interplay of light and shadow, texture and depth, presence and disappearance. Experiencing this exhibition may recall personal memories where black gradually reveals itself within the scenes of life, reminding us that BLACK is never just mere darkness, nor is it simply a background.
These carefully curated works serve as a profound reflection of the artistic vision and collecting interests of Jean-Michel Beurdeley, co-founder of the museum. Beurdeley has chosen pieces that hold deep personal and emotional significance, establishing a collecting philosophy that forms the crucial foundation upon which the museum’s permanent collection has been built and continues to thrive today.
When considering a color deeply embedded in the cultural imagination, "black" is often among the first to come to mind, having coexisted with human history since time immemorial. In Arthur Rimbaud’s French sonnet Voyelles (Vowels), the poem begins with "A noir" (A black), transforming a visual perception of color into a linking sound, and eventually into an emotional register. This expands the possibilities of black into a multitude of interpretations, be it black as belief, fears, desires, or values.
For more information please visit the MAIIAM website.
Tagged 30/06.