Renowned filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s exhibition The Serenity of Madness will make its North American debut at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) on September 15. Exploring threads of sociopolitical commentary, this new solo exhibition uniquely presents rarely seen short films and video installations by the Thai artist, alongside his photography, sketches and archival materials.
A leading figure in contemporary film and art, Weerasethakul’s (SAIC MFA 1998, HON 2011) work reveals stories often excluded in history in and out of Thailand: voices of the poor and the ill, marginalized beings and those silenced and censored for personal and political reasons. Weerasethakul has developed a singular realist-surrealist style in which he portrays the everyday alongside supernatural elements suggesting a distortion between fact and folklore, the subconscious and the exposed and various disparities of power.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness is a traveling exhibition curated by SAIC alum Gridthiya Gaweewong (MA 1996) and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. It has previously been shown in Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Additionally, SAIC’s Gene Siskel Film Center will screen four of Weerasethakul’s films in October: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Cemetery of Splendour, Syndromes and a Century and Tropical Malady.
Exhibition programs:
Curator's tour : with Gridthiya Gaweewong, September 18, 12–1pm
Sullivan Galleries
Artist talk: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, September 19, 6–7pm
Rubloff Auditorium, 230 S. Columbus Drive
