Background
Chalermchai Kositpipat was born into a Sino-Thai family.
Chalermchai Kositpipat was born into a Sino-Thai family.
He later attended Silpakorn University, which was Thailand"s primary visual arts school. He graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in Thai art in 1977.
He started out painting movie advertisements on billboards. Nonetheless, he was commissioned 1988 to paint murals for Wat Buddhapadipa in London. The murals took four years to complete and were controversial because of the contemporary stylings.
"I got complaints from everybody – from the government, from monks and from other artists, saying that what I was doing was not Thai art," he was quoted as saying in 1998.
Eventually, his work became more accepted, with Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej among his clients. One piece of his was sold for United States$17,500 in 1998 at an auction of Thai art at Christie"s Singapore.
Work on the temple was started in 1997, and still continues. "Only death can stop my dream, but cannot stop my project," Chalermchai was quoted as saying about the temple, adding that he believes the work will give him "immortal life".
He was the first visual arts honoree for the inaugural Silpathorn Award, created in 2004 to honor living Thai contemporary artists at mid-career.
Quotations: "I got complaints from everybody – from the government, from monks and from other artists, saying that what I was doing was not Thai art,". "Only death can stop my dream, but cannot stop my project,".
