Richard Koh Fine Arts is presenting “Samlee & Co, The Absolute Fabulous Show” by Thai artist Natee Utarit at Art Stage Jakarta, which opens tomorrow at Sheraton Grand Jakarta Gandaria City Hotel and runs until August 7.The exhibition showcases paintings by Natee Utarit on the magician Samlee and his family. Samlee was a Bangladeshi magician who started visiting Utarit’s studio to model for his paintings in 2014. He was a famous illusionist in Thailand before he suddenly decided to leave the Philip Magic Troupe. This sudden disappearance took a toll on Samlee and his family’s lifestyle.The visible anxiety and vulnerability beneath the comical façade of his character prompted Utarit to paint him as a subject. Through his paintings, Utarit attempted to bridge the gap between the life of the model and the life of the pictures, which are often very different from each other, just like the two aspects of magic — the illusion and the truth.Click on the slideshow for a sneak peek of the exhibition.
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