Ikon presents the first major solo exhibition in Europe by leading Thai artist Mit Jai Inn (b.1960). Comprising recent works made from multiple layers of canvas and paint, it fills the gallery’s white-walled spaces with a kaleidoscope of material colour.

Mit’s art spans many forms, including early unstretched rectangular canvases covered on both sides with thick lines and bold patches of paint: Patch Works (1999 – ) made from grids and blocks of interlocking colours; and Scrolls (2003 – ) that transform a traditional format of Eastern painting into rollable sculptures. For Mit, painting is both intensely physical and deeply meditative. Using his hands, fingers and the occasional palette knife, he dabs, slaps and pulls his paints across the canvas, blending and arranging their colours intuitively. He likens this state to a trance in which consciousness gives way to pure, reflexive making:

“When I paint, it’s not only with my eyes, but with all of my senses: touch, smell, movement. The whole entity.” Mit Jai Inn

This exhibition is supported by Birmingham School of Art and Centre for Chinese Visual Arts, Birmingham City University. It is accompanied by a comprehensive monograph on Mit’s life and work, published by Ikon and ArtAsiaPacific Foundation.

Dreamworld tours to MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai (15 April 2023 – 1 April 2024).