Authenticity, 'Elemental Forms' Set Cambodian Artist Sopheap Pich Apart

ASIA SOCIETY
By Bansie Vasvani

The sculptures “Cycle” (2011), front, and “Stalk 2” (2009), 
rear, by the Cambodian rattan artist Sopheap Pich, at the Met.

NEW YORK---Sopheap Pich's appearance in Documenta 13 in 2012, followed by his current solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (part of New York City's spring 2013 Season of Cambodia festival), have garnered enormous attention, with features in practically every major art newspaper and magazine dedicated to covering serious Asian art. But what makes his art so important? At first glance — when viewed amidst the Met's elaborate stone deities, animals, and other figures from the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia — Pich's work appears stark and bare. One would expect that the simplicity of his sculptures and his use of basic materials might make the work appear less significant in such vaunted company. [link]