Back in the swing

Detail from one of Hour Seyha's Children of the Countryside paintings

I have been absent from the multitude of art exhibitions that have been cropping up around Phnom Penh in the past couple of months. Nothing sinister behind my absence, lethargy was perhaps the main reason. So tonight I got home from work, jumped in the shower and headed for the Romeet Gallery on Street 178 to get back into the swing of things. It didn't work. I found myself looking at the exhibitions by two young Cambodian artists, running side by side, but found little of interest in the artworks in front of me. They literally said nothing to me, if that was the intention of the painters. I read the blurb about Hour Seyha's Children of the Countryside and Nget Chanpenh's During the Dark exhibits but failed to find any inspiration in their paintings. Contemporary and abstract artwork of this nature, either works or it doesn't. For me, it didn't. I left the exhibition after looking at each painting twice to ensure I wasn't missing something. I wasn't. Just a personal opinion of course and I would say that I prefer art that is more finely detailed, such as Chhim Sothy's traditional works, or completely bonkers like Sokuntevy Oeur's weird and wonderful creations. However, I'm sure the artists will take little heed of my ramblings, with prices ranging from $300-500 per picture according to the exhibition catalogue. Roll on the next exhibition.

Another Hour Seyha painting using layers of circular lines

An exaggerated face of a family member by Nget Chanpenh in his During the Dark exhibition