Siamese smile: Siamese intellectual (from 'Siamese smile' series) 1995

This painting is one of three portraits that Chatchai Puipia made for ‘The 2nd Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT2), in which the artist assumed a variety of guises. Oversized and somewhat ominous, the self-portraits explore ideas around deception, insincerity and façade, and play on familiar depictions of the Buddha’s ‘benign smile’. While Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is often described as ‘The Land of Smiles’, the expression has assumed numerous meanings that do not all signify happiness. It is adopted, for instance, as a way of saving face and to disguise other emotions. According to Chatchai, ‘Thailand is a Buddhist country where people are not supposed to exploit each other but when you look around, all you see is greed and consumerist values’. The lotus flowers that he has included traditionally symbolise wisdom; however, here they are employed with a degree of irony.