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I (Akkara Naktamna : Curator) have heard ‘Pink, Black & Blue’ before, which seems to be the title of Manit's old work. Actually it’s ‘Pink White Blue’ depicting children in school uniforms being taught or maybe possessed by Pink Man. Red (state) is replaced with pink (Pink Man actually), White is children who are pure and free, and Blue is the color of monarchy. That's why I feel that colors always existed in Manit's works for a long time.

Once again Manit brings colors back to expand and express them differently. In this time; ‘Pink’ is the conclusion of Pink Man's life, ‘Black’ is flashing back to the beginning, and ‘Blue’ is jumping to the present day like Pink Man’s spirit wandering the afterlife through Manit’s small camera in Street Photography.

Pink, Black & Blue are connected, narrating the stories by using the death of Pink Man as a bridge to pass on ideas and phenomena spreading around the artist and audiences.

PINK
Pink Man, a man who explores the ordinary and bizarre in Thai-Thai and global society,
Is he really dead?

A horrifying news photograph of October 6, 1976 with a smirking Pink Man standing next to it was like the first memory of Pink Man. It was as if a wire-puller was wearing a bright pink suit who was taking off his spirit soaring through that day, witnessing the abominations emanating from the power that wished to eliminate people like chewing gum stuck under the shoes. That image had a shocking effect not only on the general audiences, but showed a significant example that pushed Thai contemporary photography to move away from the old traditional approaches.

For nearly three decades, Pink Man has visited places and stories that could be as much as a person's lifetime through many ups and downs and reflecting on many stories. Undeniably, Pink Man is an abstract representation of what is behind many phenomena that occur in world society. He was created to be tangible, living like a real person, growing up, getting old and eventually dead. His body was placed in his favorite shocking pink corpse bag on the streets of New York City.

The question is, what does Pink Man's death, who seems to be immortal, tell us? Is Pink Man going to be a new Buddha? The answers may be floating in the air we are breathing in PM 2.5 or floating in the smoke of the Ukraine-Russia war that is taking place in our time.

BLACK
The beginning, Pink Man in a black swamp

Various experiments, like every opening door, are a great tool for the ideas that soar with the daringness of youth. The age when everything is possible with the power of hormones and extreme thinking. When I Was Twenty is one striking evidence that it seems to have met the Pink Man's eyes, subtly hiding his pink suit and shopping cart behind these black and white photos.

'When I Was Twenty' is full of dark personal stories, intermingled with creepy plants, swamps, men, death, babies, TV. Seemingly they communicate with each other through mysterious symbols and pressures, packed with sharp ideas, beliefs, and ideologies that are about to be released in the near future; Incubating and waiting.

When ‘Tom Yum Kung’ Crisis hit in 1997, it woke up Pink Man; he swam out of a black swamp in his pink suit and favorite shopping cart. Standing mockingly smirked at the devastation and heralded the arrival of the pink-suited chubby man atop a heap of greed.

BLUE
Pink Man's blue spirit in a globalized world.

Chaos of numberous opinions, speed of communication, limitless knowledge, multicultural-subcultural, gender fluidity, AI intelligence, etc fuse together in complete chaos. Don't know if these things cause Pinkman a headache or not but ‘I Saw A Blue Wing’ is like the blue spirit of him watches the new world through Manit's small camera and travels to various places before the outbreak of Covid-19. It is quite surprising that it was around the same time as Pink Man's departure.

Landscapes of big cities with marginalized people, people dressed up like fancy fairs, hi-so parties, traditional cultures faked for tourists, etc. are shown interestingly, just like a photo series of 'Pink Man On Tour' in which Pink Man travels to various places. Instead of seeing Pink Man in the scene, but looking through his eyes. We (the audience) are sitting behind Pink Man's eyes agape as in ‘Being John Malkovich’ movie watching the rapid change of world society which never catches up with.

We'll merge and turn into Pink Man eventually.
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Pink, Black & Blue
A solo photographic exhibition by Manit Sriwanichpoom
Curated by Akkara Naktamna

11 FEBRUARY - 9 APRIL 2023
HOP PHOTO GALLERY
3rd floor, MUNx2, Seacon Square Srinakarin.

Opening reception date : 11 February 2023
Beginning at 5 PM