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 Western Light No. 1', features King Rama V, Thailand's revered king and most successful reformer who was the first Thai monarch to travel to the West. During his reign, Thailand maintained her independence from European colonial rule. This work recalls the bronze equestrian statue of King Rama V which was commissioned in 1908 at Bangkok city's Royal Plaza symbolising Thailand's promising future. In the artist's rendition, the statue is rendered with a foreboding, dark palette in contrast to the actual monument, suggesting a tarnished present-day reality instead of the blazing destiny it is meant to present.
