Feb 1st 2021 (3)

Feb 1st 2021 is acrylic and oil pastel on canvas mirroring the artist’s inner turmoil and reaction to Myanmar 2021 uprising where the military government confronted peaceful protestors and turned the demonstration into bloodshed. As during the coup, the figures are clashing with each other, almost blending into their surroundings and losing their individuality to higher, violent forces and overwhelming chaos.

A dark palette of colours reflects crushing emotions of helplessness and fear that the subjects must have been enslaved by. Faces of the dead are ingrained into the mosaic inspired by Burmese folklore and spirituality, from Hintha birds, gods-like deities Nats to the depiction of Buddha. Through the painting, Phyo tells a tragic story embedded into the shared national consciousness and lived experience.

Pyae Phyo Thant Nyo (b. 1998)

As a multidisciplinary artist, Phyo started working with photography. Finding the medium limiting, his focus shifted onto painting, mastering a method he named ‘analogue photoshop’. It aims to approach physical canvas as one would digital one, combining Western and Eastern pre-existing visual elements into a complex multicultural image. Phyo reinterprets Burmese mythology through modern lenses to create a new form of expression and identity that would correspond with him and his contemporary’s worldview as he grew up in a Yangon surrounded by Western influences, from art, cinema to, often misrepresented history. Phyo’s practice aims to bridge the generational, ideological and geographical gap, that he experienced first-handed when residing in the United Kingdom, between clashing cultures with Buddhist values.

Phyo has a BA in Fine Art: Photography from the University of Arts London, Camberwell College of Arts (2021).

Based on our agreement with the artist, 15% of the pre-VAT price excluding frames will be donated to support the social movement. Donation will be given to Healing Hands.