Peter Olszewski
Photo by: Photo Supplied
An example of Tevy’s work from her L’amour à mort exhibition at the French Cultural Centre in Phnom Penh last year.
Making a welcome return to Hotel de la Paix’s Arts Lounge is one of Cambodia’s premier female painters: Oeur Sokuntevy, aka Tevy, who is following her 2008 debut at the hotel with an exhibition called Star Signs.
Since her first appearance, her profile has increased considerably throughout the region, and a recent showing in Singapore saw more than half of her paintings sold.
Her exhibition Love, Death, Dreams opened at Singapore’s Utterly Art Exhibition Space on June 30 and ran until July 10.
Now she returns to Hotel de la Paix and brings the paintings she showed in Singapore to Siem Reap: Love, Death Dreams will be launched at the hotel with an opening reception kicking off at 6.30pm on Thursday.
Oeur Sokuntevy, born in 1983, studied painting at the Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang, and made the jump to Phnom Penh in 2007.
She has had a number of solo exhibitions, including I Curl in Memory’s Belly at Java Gallery in 2010, and Family Ties at Java Gallery in 2009.
Group exhibitions include Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale in Korea in 2009, and The Art of Survival at Phnom Penh’s Meta House Gallery in 2008.
Her work is in several art collections, including the Singapore Art gallery, and the Singapore Embassy in Phnom Penh.
A Java Arts press release about her work says, “Her paintings openly tell the story of the conflicts women of this generation face, whether emotional, familial, social or financial, in trying to be themselves, in a place where restrictive conventions and values have long existed and mapped out the path for women.
“Contrary to the Ch’bab Srey, which advocated modesty, compliance, and the domestic sphere as a woman’s place of work, Tevy advocates self-expression and individuality. Tevy’s choice of subjects, the questions she raises and her unforgiving personal approach to issues she perceives as being the cornerstones of ‘female identity’, family and sexuality, make her a tour de force.
“Some recent works are resoundingly candid portrayals of her intimate relationships, at points showing tenderness, at others, contempt; all sides of love are shown, including what happens when it is no more.”
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