Artist and writer Oat Montien is celebrated for his whimsical drawings, especially ones portraying the male body. Looking out onto the world, he simultaneously reflects inward, and it is through his spectacles of esotericism and the politics of body and gender that he translates his works to audiences.
Earlier this month, the artist launched his latest Songprapha: Reclining Queer Nudes at Bodhisattava Gallery on Songprapha Road. A collection of 12 drawings, the work portrays 12 different reclining male bodies. In a previous body of work titled Eros, Oat compiled nude sketches of his ex-lovers, exploring subjects of desire. In this new collection, however, he is turning his eyes back to a subject closer to himself by collaborating with platonic models.
I’ve always drawn caucasian male bodies but for this exhibition, I’d like to shift my focus to the bodies of Asian gay men, as a meditation on my own sexuality.
