Entering our fifth year, 100 Tonson Gallery celebrates the love and interests in contemporary visiual art by hosting STARs (Self-Taught Artists) exhibition.   Five artists from various (but not art) academic backgrounds are starred in the exhibition after they have courageously pursued their passion for art, dedicated themselves in the area where they were not trained and became successful as artists.  100 Tonson Gallery usually presents the works of artists with museum quality.  Both our young and established artists are often collected or exhibited in world-class museums.  Without art academic guidance, the artists selected and shown in this exhibition are of 100 Tonson Gallery’s quality but viewers will also see a unique sense of naivety and free-spiritedness.

Paintings (oil and acrylic), drawings, bronze sculpture and ceramic works are featured in this show.  There are no boundaries in the elements of art for self taught artists.  Maybe because they do not have to conform to a curriculum, maybe they are not pressured by what is expected out of them as artists, the works show a fresh, naive and alluring sensation.  Sometimes called Outsider Art, Brut Art, the works by self-taught artists receive good interest internationally.  Some museums even collect or focus only on self-taught artists.  

Former Bank of Thailand’s Governor Kamchorn Sathirakul whose signature on Thai Baht banknotes has migrated to make their marks on canvases, will be guest artist and honourable chairperson for the opening on May 10th, 2007.   

Niti Wattuya, veteran self-taught artist will show his latest paintings of abstract landscape and elephant figurative work while Nim Kruesaeng female Thai artist whose new works with pots, bamboo, organic forms and admirable colour coordination sprung out from her mind endlessly in the past 10 years since she started painting.  Nim’s simple lined paintings were recently seen in the 

Patrick O’ Connor, Australian entrepreneur has been living in Thailand over the past 15 years. This series of ceramic works were inspired by corals and sea creatures at his beach properties in Chumporn, Phuket and memorable trip to Similan island.   Mae Agoon, the former bank officer had left her job and concentrated on making sculpture artworks in the past 8 years.