Po Po | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hla Oo 1957 (age 67–68) |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Performance Art |
Po Po (born 1957) is aBurmese installation and performance artist. His work has been exhibited inJapan,South Korea andBerlin.[1]
Po Po was born in 1957 inPathein,Myanmar. His formal name is Hla Oo.[2] He is self-taught. Since 1987 Po Po has held many solo exhibitions, and his work has been shown at theYokohama Triennale [ja] inYokohama, Japan, theGwangju Biennale inGwangju, South Korea, Fukuoka Triennale inFukuoka, Japan and in theHouse of World Cultures, Berlin.[1] A May 2004 report described Po Po as one of the younger Myanmar artists who were creating impressive works in isolation and in conditions of penury.[3] However, Po Po is one of the few "contemporary" Myanmar artists who have been able to travel for participating in theFukuoka Asian Art Museum's event in 1999, for instance.[4] He was also able to take part in Saigon Open City inVietnam.[2] In June 2010 he visitedSingapore to give a talk at theOsage Art Foundation.[5]
Po Po, and another self-taught artistAung Myint, are pioneers in the performance art field in Myanmar, with Po Po staging a 30-minute seminal performance in 1997.[6] Po Po is widely regarded as Myanmar's first practitioner of this art form.[7] Many of his works are playful, impulsive, ironic and sociable. Other works are provocative and shocking.[1] His installation work "rice terrace" at theOsage Gallery in Singapore in May/June 2010 involved 1000Styrofoam boxes, each with about 100 grains of growing rice, with the boxes arranged on mud terraces in the gallery.[8] He describes his computer-installationScream of the Dead, which features an open mass grave, as a metaphor for life in Myanmar and the world today.[1] His work is thoughtful and full of depth. In his photography he employs elements ofcubism, which he considers to be the "highest state of intellectual approach" to painting.[9] A critic has said: "At best, his works reflect the lightness of being, joyfully, bearably so".[2]