Natee Utarit (1970) was born in Thailand and is one of the leading figures in contemporary Thai painting. Natee graduated from Silpakorn University in 1992, majoring in painting, sculpture and graphic art. He has exhibited extensively since the late 1980s and has participated in numerous group exhibitions. Initially influenced by German Expressionism, his oeuvre has gone on to question the conventions of painting. The term, dialectic, refers to a systematic method of argument that attempts to resolve conflicts of opposing views. 'Untitled Dialectic No. 2' represents Natee's dialogue with established forms of representation: the photograph, the landscape and the canvas. Seen in this image is a dilemma between these three forms of representation, each claiming its own legitimacy as depictions of the real. By transposing one on top of the other, the contradictions and limitations of representations, whether by the hand-rendered painting or the accuracy of the photographic lens, is being made apparent.
