SVAY KEN (1933–2008). Talk, mixed media on canvas, signed and dated 2000.

Incl frame approx. 65x85 cm.

Provenance:
Rolf Eriksson and Agneta Danielsson, working for SIDA in Cambodia.

Other:
Svay Ken (1933—2008) is one of Cambodia's most significant contemporary artists. Self-taught and with a keen eye for the details of everyday life, he depicted people, objects and environments with a strange candour. His paintings represent a serene testimony to the simplicity of life, but also to the Cambodian experience through difficult times.

Svay Ken is today regarded as one of the most influential artists in Cambodia's modern history — often referred to as the “father” of the country's contemporary art scene. Born in Takeo Province and active in Phnom Penh, he worked most of his life as a waiter at the Hotel Le Royal. Only after retirement did he begin his artistic path, developing a unique, narrative imagery in which everyday life, memories and the nation's collective history were at the center. His naïve style and deep humanism have made him an icon, whose works today carry both artistic and cultural-historical value.

/Frederick Anthony.