Like a tourist, the majority of us think about Pattaya like a spot to lie about the sandy beach or to take a walk down Pattaya’s infamous Walking Street, but Pattaya is definitely the home of a serious art gallery offering major international exhibitions, sales, and shows for local contemporary artists as well as for some traditional Thai artists as well. So for any visiting art-lover, then Liam’s Gallery is a must see.

Liam Ayudhkij has Liam’s Gallery, and he’s been collecting art here there for almost 40 years. Liam is a forward-thinking type of fellow, and believes within the value of contemporary Thai art, despite the fact that most others in the industry don’t. This phenomenon is well documented in the book “Flavours – Thai Contemporary Art” written by Steven Pettifor this year.

In the book, Steven writes about the craftsmanship of Thai contemporary art:

“I do view it elsewhere in Asia, therefore it is certainly not different but you will find different types of crafts that are brought into Thai art. Chusak Srikwan uses shadow puppetry, but he does such things as modern politicians and symbols of corruption. Montri Toemsombat has used silk weaving and silk crafting previously. There’s this focus on craft…”

And at Liam’s gallery, you can find the whole shebang of Chusak Srikwan in addition to Montri Toemsombat and dozens of other contemporary artists taking their craft very, very seriously.

Along with the curiosity about Thai contemporary artwork now increasing, especially after the opening from the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) a couple of years back, Liam’s Gallery has been the place to determine what’s new and happening on the scene – from the national in addition to local perspective.

Take for example, Andrew Groffman’s work that depicts local Pattayian portraits as you would locate them: hanging out chatting with farangs, sleeping seductively in bed, or obtaining a quick bite to eat in the pub. Andrew seems to specialize in Pattaya’s working girl, and it has produced some stunning pop art portraits of lovely behinds and bellies lit through the rising sunshine of the morning after.

Another interesting artist at Liam’s that predominately displays other areas of the human body is Douglas Simonson, and his assortment of Male Nude Prints. Simonson is just one of Hawaii’s most well-known of contemporary authors and artists, and this collection is very revealing. And also, since Simonson does not have a gallery of his own, seeing his work at Liam’s is extremely convenient for anyone thinking about buying or appreciating some leading male erotica.

Although not all works at Liam’s Gallery is really as titillating; the gallery attempts to showcase new and emerging Thai artists for example Asawinnee Wanjing, who takes inkjet printouts of traditional Thai images and hand touches them using a process called Giclee.

Another illustration of an emerging Thai artist showcased at Liam’s is Danaiphat Lersputtitrakan, whose arresting acrylics on canvas have won him numerous awards both in Thailand as well as in the UAE. His number of odd misshapened heads is reminiscent of a Salvador Dali or more recently, Anastasiya Markovich’s work (from the Ukraine).

And Liam’s does not leave out local expat painters like Doris Kraushaar, that has been in Thailand since 1985 and drawing like wild with shows all over the country. Her pastels in writing can be both erotic and disturbing, all simultaneously.

Another rare gems at Liam’s incorporate a unique group of signed Copper plate engravings by David Hockney, dating back 1966, when man-on-man love would be a thing of notable taboo.

So in a nutshell, any art-loving tourist will find much to determine at Liam’s…and listed here are the location and phone details:

Located just off Thappraya Road heading towards the Varuna Yacht Club and the Asia Hotel, on Soi 4 opposite Cabbages and Condoms. The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 7 pm. For more info, call 66-0-38 25 18 08 or see liamsgallery.com.

If you are confused in regards to what lighting solutions might be best for your art gallery, then your following tips would likely help you for you. Galleries have very unique demands when it comes to lighting them up. Unlike most rooms that require an excellent balance of task, accent, and ambient lighting, galleries mainly rely on accent lighting to accentuate the art displayed. While keeping the ambient lighting simple, you need to concentrate mainly on getting the accent lighting suitable for the particular artwork in the room.

Ideally, you must have an image lighting system that may be easily reconfigured to illuminate relocated or new art pieces displayed in the memorial. For many decades now, monorail lighting and track lighting are being used for lighting galleries. Check the CRI (Color Rendering Index) A lamp’s CRI is nothing nevertheless its ability to display the colors of illuminated objects and falls within the selection of 1 (monochromatic light) and 100 (the sun). Fluorescent bulbs that people commonly use possess a low CRI while incandescent lamps come with a high CRI. However, incandescent lamps are not really suitable for art galleries given that they do not have the exact directional characteristics required for illuminating galleries.

Low-voltage track and cable systems are commonly used for this purpose, as they use halogen lamps that are known for their almost perfect color rendering abilities with precise beam control. Another important factor that needs to be considered is the color temperature because it decides how colors would appear towards the eye within specific lamp. It’s thought that warm colors would look more vibrant under ‘warm’ light sources while cool colors would look more pleasing under ‘cool’ lamps.

Pay attention to the beam spread abilities of a lamp. The size of the lighted area is one of the major lighting problems when illuminating an art gallery. For instance, a large cone used to illuminate a little art piece might not only look odd but additionally distract your attention from the artwork to the illuminated wall. It might not be always possible to alter fixtures however, you can certainly resolve this issue by selecting a lamp of the right beam spread. To put it simply, beam spread refers to the width from the cone of sunshine a lamp produces while you escape from the sunshine source.

Beam spreads of lamps are specified by terms of spots and floods. While the term ‘spot’ refers to a beam spread of less than 15 degrees, ‘flood’ describes a beam spread within the selection of 15 to 30 degrees. You have to avoid directional cans as far as possible, since such recessed fixtures may not give enough light to light up a particularly large piece despite their ability to rotate.