
Manit Sriwanichpoom
Pink Man Opera # 7. Egging on people to dance, pounding a boat to spring a leak, 2009

Pink Man Opera 2009
Likay is an ancient Thai folk opera that bases its content on …

Manit Sriwanichpoom could be considered a political activist who uses photography and video to express his views. In 1998, Sriwanichpoom created his Pink Man, which would become the iconic figure in his artwork. Played by the artist’s friend and poet Sompong Thawee, the Pink Man is a character dressed in a pink silk suit with matching pink objects, like shopping carts or balloons, who looks equally impassively at the touristic monuments of Bangkok and scenes of public violence in Sriwanichpoom’s staged images. Sriwanichpoom also produced a series of six works titled “This Bloodless War” (1997) that re-create iconic photojournalistic images from the Vietnam War and the bombing of Nagasaki in Japan. One work in the series is based on Nit Ut’s infamous 1972 photograph of a girl fleeing a napalm attack, recast with contemporary figures carrying brand name shopping bags.


Pink Man Opera 2009
Likay is an ancient Thai folk opera that bases its content on old fairly tales with added satirical flavour from current events. In 2009 Pink Man presented himself as a leading actor with a children Likay troupe. He posed for 8 selected proverbs that reflected political conflicts in …

Manit Sriwanichpoom could be considered a political activist who uses photography and video to express his views. In 1998, Sriwanichpoom created his Pink Man, which would become the iconic figure in his artwork. Played by the artist’s friend and poet Sompong Thawee, the Pink Man is a character dressed in a pink silk suit with matching pink objects, like shopping carts or balloons, who looks equally impassively at the touristic monuments of Bangkok and scenes of public violence in Sriwanichpoom’s staged images. Sriwanichpoom also produced a series of six works titled “This Bloodless War” (1997) that re-create iconic photojournalistic images from the Vietnam War and the bombing of Nagasaki in Japan. One work in the series is based on Nit Ut’s infamous 1972 photograph of a girl fleeing a napalm attack, recast with contemporary figures carrying brand name shopping bags.