Royal Thai Gallery opens
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Built on a bias (no square corners and not along compass lines), the two, 200 plus meters long and 20 meters wide halls divide into four galleries to afford maximum display. Along with soaring vistas to its full 20 meters height, the halls lead us to the trompe l'oeil wing-tip ends that appear fully open to the colorful magnolia blossoms and seascape outdoors.
"Nothing like this in all of Second Life, now or before," said LordGregGreg Back, official Emerald Developer on his first visit.
And then there is the collection itself! The permanent collection includes hand-crafted wood and lacquer panels brought to Second Life by Sulie Criss from the master craftsmen and craftswomen who make these labor-of-love treats for the eyes. They work sometimes for over a full year on just one piece.
Here you will find highly important works that depict historic and mythic scenes, such as: General Trung Hung Dao doing battle leading Vietnamese against Chinese invaders in the 12th century and Phra Phrom, the four-headed Buddha, are only two of dozens. Also clearly and easily seen are incredibly intricate works of visual clarity and unbelievable handiwork, such as "Fishing Village" and "Royal Swan Barge," to name only two.
These two dimensional presentations take on a decided three dimensional aspect that one must see up close... very close.
The dramatic lighting achieved in "Naga with Pra Nariai" also highlights the clearly seen wood grain. Such detail, not often if ever seen in SL before, leaves viewers both breathless and clamoring for more, and more is only a few hundred meters away, just back up and down one more wing of the dragonfly.
Lacquer panels made by hand of course but coming from Vietnam are perched in an entire wing. These include an incomparable Thai scene from the murals at Wat Pho in Bangkok. Equally well rendered are panels that are far less costly, such as "Vietnam Planting Rice in Paddy," "American Eagle," and many others.
The third wing houses the permanent homage to Lord Buddha and other statues of Thai origin. The collection holds more than 150 and even this spacious room can show only a few dozen. The actual statues in Real Life are decorated with solid gold, jewels, semi-precious jewels and gold leaf. The details, intensity, and variety of work fills many with glee just to be in the room. Go to the end of this room, by the open window to the sea, sit in the chairs and behold originals that are being sold in small edition of not more than five each, after which the images will not ever again be sold in Second Life, unless someone tires of their Original and sells it at auction or private sale.
The fourth wing is devoted to periodic shows including Guest Artists who are invited to submit their work to the proprietor for consideration. Presently on view are photographs of Thai festivals, prominently Songkran (the Thai Water Festival Celebration of New Years) and Loi Krathong with tens of thousands of hot air balloons being sailed from a temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
An outdoor Sculpture Garden nicely displays a great advantage in Second Life where nature cannot harm the timeless beauty of these fine visual arts.
The Grand Opening is at ROYAL THAI GALLERY, Kingsdoms Heart (179, 131, 21) on 2 April 2010 at 5:30 PM PDT/SLT.
For further information, contact Sulie Criss.
