"THE MEE YA HTA BUILDING" Art Exhibition by Kate Bowen 

(14th to 22nd March, 2015)

Gallery 65 is pleased to present a new art exhibition "THE MEE YA HTA BUILDING" featuring UK Artist Kate Bowen. The exhibit will open on the 14th of March and will run through the 22nd of March, 2015. The exhibit will feature over 60 paintings of the Artist's works. The exhibit hours are from 10am to 6pm daily.

About the Artist:

Kate Bowen is an English painter who lives in Yangon. Prior to arriving in July 2013, she had spent 18 months in London drawing and painting the changing cityscape and the construction of the Olympic Stadium.

When Kate arrived in Yangon she was enthralled by the greenness of the city and the ubiquitous decay of old architecture sprouting verdant tropical vegetation juxtaposed with the emergence of new constructions.

So overwhelmed by the many subjects, she started by drawing city scenes from the tops of buildings. She sees the importance of the drawing process essentially as a division of space. Walking through the streets she settled on one building; the former Railway Headquarters Building in Bogyoke Aung San Road.

Constructed in 1877, the building is unique for its use of Laterite Stone (a soft sand stone). Three competing Railway companies came together into one single network operated as a Union. Since 1994 it has been abandoned and through historical and climatic events nature has reclaimed the mortar and the structure. There is a pathos for all those who worked there and filled the spaces with purpose.

"What I find heartening about this historic building is that there is a huge conservation/engineering project to save the building and most of its original features. The Gothic-like cast-iron canopies, carved brackets, intricate wrought-iron Juliet balconies and doors are being meticulously restored by Master Craftsmen. Toddy Palm trees carefully removed are to be replanted later. The building will take on a new purpose as a Heritage Hotel."

After drawing and painting the exterior of the building, she was given permission to work inside. In the process of studies and paintings of the abandoned rooms and corridors, broken window frames and floorboards - she focused on capturing the melancholic jagged shadows and shafts of light through doorways through which pigeons and crows swept in and out. Stray cats and dogs wander through the dark shadowy spaces - everywhere an acrid smell.

In the paintings, each choice of medium, colour and support is used to create a mood, an intimacy which is intended to be both alluring and unsettling.

These paintings have a particular silence and within the gaps they express a sense of tenderness and gravity.

Kate Bowen, Yangon, March 2015

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/413381772120402/

http://www.irrawaddy.org/multimedia-burma/faded-glory-and-pathos-in-rangoons-former-railway-headquarters.html/nggallery/page/2

http://www.kamayutmedia.com/trend/event/3363

https://latefornowhere.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/beyond-the-visual-exploring-the-stillness-inside-the-burma-railways-building/