Catalogue Than Sok "Les Formes de l'Eau"

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The concrete and stripped-down nature of the objects – or of nature in thecase of Kbach teuk - is still a representation which tries to impose itself butwhich at the same time contains its annihilation. This almost sensual materialitywhich Sok presents us with evokes nothingness. It is a movement interpretedby the curator, Caroline Ha Thuc 2 – especially in the two installations referredto – as a “deconstruction of the spiritual”. It is this strange coming and goingbetween an image that is very present and its erasure which gives so muchpower to Sok’s work.This strange way in which Sok’s pieces make themselves felt comes from theartist’s dedication to a passionate reflection on tradition and the way in whichit transcends time. Sok questions art’s ability to transform ritual practices orfixed representations. Cambodian artists are preoccupied with the questionof the durability of these practices, notably because of the formidable (andat times intimidating) legacy of Angkor art, but also because of the tragicexperience of a genocide during which Cambodia’s people and art were indanger of being annihilated. Continuity with the past, being embedded in atradition… Sok’s art – yet so contemporary when one considers his economy ofmeans – completely embraces this. The title of the series - Kbach Teuk – refersto the Cambodian tradition of Kbach, the decorative elements of Cambodianarchitecture found in houses, on furniture, temple bas-reliefs, objects…. Thistraditional art of decorative ornamentation is transmitted orally from artisan toartisan, and incidentally, uses patterns based on schematic images of animalsor plants.The paintings of the forms of water thus draw their inspiration from observingrepresentations of water in the silver Pagoda of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penhand Sok’s own river walks. Erin Gleeson 3 , our exhibition curator, highlights theimportance of Sok’s time at the Reyum Art School in Phnom Penh which closedits doors in 2007. Sok, in addition to his classes in drawing and contemporaryart, followed a course dedicated to the art of Kbach. Erin Gleeson tells usthat one of Sok’s teachers, Ms Saree, noted that the representations of waterin contemporary Cambodian craft were stuck in the past and were merereproductions of ancestral imagery. She encouraged her students to innovateregarding the design of decorative ornaments, advising them to rely onobservation and experience, to better capture the varied forms of water, a vitalelement and carrier of aesthetic promise. Some years later, Sok has realisedhis teacher’s wishes: he is renewing the traditional representation of water,embedding it in his own artistic research.² Caroline Ha Thuc, Sok Than: Deconstructive Beliefs, www.cobosocial.com, November 2017.³ Erin Gleeson, Introductory Notes on Kbach Teuk Paintings by Than Sok, 2020.12
It gives Batia Sarem great pleasure, therefore, to show the paintings by thismajor artist in France, the impact of which goes beyond the Cambodiancontext. Because he draws on his observations, his art education andCambodia’s tradition, Sok’s art achieves a fascinating synthesis. One can feelhow deeply Sok considers representation, images. With this in mind, he usesthe different available mediums – installation, sculpture, drawing and, in thiscase, painting – depending on his intent. This personal relationship to themateriality of the image allows him to reinstate the presence of things whileforegrounding their precariousness. Giving form to materiality is for him theonly way to relate to spirituality. Sok suggests, therefore, in each work, anaudacious reinterpretation of Cambodian tradition, his approach always opento interpretation and using a poignant economy of means. Batia Sarem invitesyou to discover this irreducible artist.Yves ZlotowskiJanuary 202213
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2012 Riverscapes IN FLUX, (Paysages
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Lyvann Loeuk et Yves Zlotowski reme
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Catalogue Than Sok "Les Formes de l'Eau"

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