Jan Mandrup presented three paintings in an exhibition in Bangkok from 7 to 19 February 2023, which was the Danes first public exposure.
The exhibition was called ’In The Making’ and was a soft launch of the new gallery ‘ME GOODY Space’ belonging to the next door neighbor ‘ME GOODY Cafe’ located in a small street behind IconSiam department store.
Art Jamming
The Dane started painting by a bit of coincidence in 2020 as a result of Covid-19. He was living in Hong Kong at the time and had just downsized his apartment when everything was locked down.
Together with some friends, Jan decided to attend a creative event to escape the cramped apartment for a while. Three or four of them actually got carried away by the painting process while the rest were more interested in the wine, he adds with a laugh.
Haven’t painted since he came back to Bangkok
Since then, Jan started using art to disconnect from his stressful corporate life, where he currently works as the Global Head of Digital Business Solutions at Indorama Ventures. But it has proven challenging to transfer his relatively new found passion from Hong Kong to Bangkok, where he lives today.
“I moved back to Bangkok last spring, where I first got a job at a startup company, and I haven’t actually painted since I came here. The problem is there are no venues where you have the opportunity to create larger formats, which is what I prefer,” he says.
The paintings that were exhibited at Me Goody Space were therefore all created back in Hong Kong.
Jan moved to live in South East Asia in 2005, where he first started living in Bangkok. Later, a job opportunity took him to Hong Kong, from where he is now back again.
One stands out
Among the three paintings in the exhibition, one in particular is especially close to his heart.
“I have actually received a nice offer on it, but I’m still considering turning it down, so it can go back on the wall above my bed,” he says, while looking intensely at the piece in front of him.
“Of course, I can probably recreate something similar. It’s like if you’ve made a slide show at the office and you forget to save it and suddenly it’s gone. At first you get really upset, but it usually turns out that the next one you make will only be even better because you have the experience from the first one to build on.”
The words come from the rational businessman, but his eyes fixed on the painting tells a different story.
Inspired by the northern lights
“I’m definitely into the abstract. The way you see something new every time you look at it. That’s what I’m after.”
A statement that clearly reflects his work, which is often inspired by the Northern lights and the ways in which the lights create a kind of abstract color universe.
On the lower floor of the gallery, Jan stops in front of another one of his pieces.
“There is a heart hidden there,” he says while observing his work.
“It was not a deliberate choice. A friend suddenly said, “There is a heart in there,” and it was first then that I even noticed it myself,” he says with a smile.
