Tailwind | Inson Wongsam

Tailwind
Inson WongsamOpening
Saturday, 2 August, 5 – 8 pm
Nova Contemporary | 86 Si Phraya Road

Nova Contemporary is pleased to present Tailwind, a solo exhibition by National Artist Inson Wongsam. Marking the artist’s debut with the gallery and coinciding with his 91st birthday, the exhibition celebrates his singular position as a bridge between modern and contemporary Thai art.

Inson Wongsam, Power of time, 2022, oil on canvas, 200 x 500 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Nova Contemporary. Photo by Akkarawin Krairiksh.

Born in Lamphun in 1932, Wongsam has long been a foundational figure in Thailand’s artistic landscape. In the early 1960s, he undertook a formative journey from Bangkok to Florence on a Lambretta scooter, an odyssey that traversed spiritual, cultural, and artistic terrains. With scenes ranging from the devotional architecture of India to the cosmopolitan residue of postwar Europe, this passage became a durational methodology: a form of embodied research through which authorship, identity, and perception were continuously reframed.

Wongsam’s practice retains the imprint of this storied expedition. His woodblock prints, abstract paintings, and wood sculptures reflect an ongoing recalibration of material, space, and time. Over a career spanning nearly seven decades, he has developed a visual language that resists codification, eschewing direct symbolism or narrative. His works operate as open systems: nonverbal yet affectively charged, inviting multiple modes of perception.

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Published 22nd July 2025
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