Deep Inside

Credit Line: Gift of Ian Holliday 2023, Collection of SMU

Maw Thu Da Nu's florid hyper realism makes an uneasy imagery of the old city mirrored on the glossy surface of a new Toyota. Political reform in Myanmar was paving the way for a new social and economic order, and the pace of change in what was until then the pariah state of Southeast Asia is most visible in the rush of global brand-offerings promising the material ease of the developed world. Myanmar became the latest frontier for capital expansion, and in less subtle works from his Deep Inside series Maw makes the point unequivocally clear. In the glossy hyper realism of Deep Inside, that which is projected is not merely a reflection but also fragmentation. The series title bids the viewer to look beyond the hyperbolic surface gloss, yet the surface is unyieldingly opaque with the imagery of fragmentation.

Maw Thu Da Nu (b. 1984, Hpa Do, Bago Region) has actively participated in group exhibitions since his graduation from Yangon's State School of Fine Arts in 2006. The Deep Inside series has shown in galleries in Singapore and Shanghai.

The SMU Art Collection has over 70 paintings from Myanmar donated by Ian Holliday. A specialist in Burmese politics, Holliday assembled the Thukhuma Collection which comprises of Burmese paintings largely dating from the transitional decade of the 2010s, presenting multiple artistic perspectives on a society in reform. On display at School of Social Sciences and Li Ka Shing Library, the gifted paintings depict the people, culture and land, from the streets of Yangon and rural peripheries to political icons and indigenous deities.