Prophilia
[ 11.01 – 07.03 / 2018 ]
SPRMRKT Daily
For this series of work, Streitmatter challenges notions of service and gendered roles. Metal plates and serving trays are ubiquitous household items, commonly seen in South and Southeast Asia. They’re often used for preparing, cooking and serving food. In Vietnam, they are mostly used by women—who largely serve in the hospitality industry, whether this is in kitchens, hotels, or private homes. Whereas the idea of service is seen as a duty that men largely perform when serving the military in the army.
The large trays can also be seen to resemble shields, therefore could symbolize a type of armour. Streitmatter coats the stainless steel serving trays with a watercolor ground, which allows him to paint contemporary portraits of women on the metal surfaces as if painting on watercolor paper. In doing so, Streitmatter hopes to collapse these identities and thus destabilize conventional notions of the domesticized Saigon woman, or the warrior male.
Streitmatter wants to show that there is no hierarchy or inequality between the two types of service: that one can be strong and serve at the same time. All service is to be recognized and celebrated.
1) How did this exhibition come about?
I was approached by Anmari of SPRMRKT shortly after I returned to Vietnam from Singapore at the end of my two-month residency at the NTU Centre of Contemporary Art. I had met Anmari years earlier when she was at Singapore Art Museum and liked the idea of SPRMRKT where art could be integrated into non-traditional exhibition spaces while still leaving much of the artistic autonomy with the artist, in many ways escaping some of the trappings that creatives often have with designer-client relations. This unique arrangement brought us together as equal creative partners. And it was the way SPRMRKT has put what we might call a curatorial effort in the selection of their showcase of specially selected items from Vietnam that the initial idea of painting on metal trays, plates and woks came to me. I felt that this body of work would merge perfectly with the exhibition space – being the restaurant at the STPI location.
Richard Streitmatter-Tran
Prophilia
Richard STREITMATTER-TRAN (b. 1972, Bien Hoa, Vietnam) is an artist living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He received his degree in the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.
His solo and collaborative work has been exhibited internationally including the de Sarthe Gallery (Hong Kong), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), 52nd La Biennale di Venezia (2007), Shenzhen and Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale (2007), The 2nd Asia Triennial in Manchester, 4th Jakarta Contemporary Ceramics Biennale, Gwangju Biennale – 광주비엔날레 (2004), Singapore Art Museum/Centre Pompidou video exhibition (2011), Kandada Art Space (Tokyo), 10 Chancery Lane Gallery (Hong Kong), Art Stage Singapore, ART KAOHSIUNG 高雄藝術博覽會 (Taiwan), the 4th Guangzhou Triennale (2011), the Singapore Biennale (2008 & 2006), Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Eslite Gallery (Taiwan), the Hugh Lane Gallery (Dublin), Chula Art Center (Bangkok) and Dia Projects (Vietnam) .
While his practice historically has included performance and new media, his current focus involves the investigation of materials and largely through figurative sculpture, painting, installation and drawing. His work can be found in numerous publications worldwide and is in private and public collections including the Singapore Art Museum, The Documenta Archives, RMIT University Vietnam Art Collection, IILM Art Collection and Post-Vidai Collection.
Streitmatter is represented by the de Sarthe Gallery in Hong Kong and Beijing.
