NAVIN RAWANCHAIKUL (b. 1971, Chiang Mai, Thailand) lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Fukuoka, Japan.
TYLER RUSSELL (b. 1975, Regina, Canada) Lives and works in Vancouver, Canada
Navin Rawanchaikul is known for his collaborative projects and his work that often takes the form of comic books, questionnaires, and photo installations, like his "Taxi Gallery" installation that equipped taxicabs with rotating exhibitions in different cities during the 1990s. In a new project, the Indian-Thai artist reaches out into the real world again, this time to parody the art world with a mock campaign to unite the world's countless individuals who share his forename. The project features a touring, multimedia exhibition centering on an 11-minute music video, "Navins of Bollywood," Produced in collaboration with Tyler Russell, it portrays the artist's uncanny encounters with other people named Navin during his recent first trip to India, where his mother was born. Replete with Bollywood-style song-and-dance numbers, the video features a cast of fictional Navins that include a waiter, wig maker and a green-robed guru, Navin Mahaprabhu, who counsels the artist to enlighten humanity by seeking out all the world's Navins and joining them in one community.
The Navin Party projects have been included in the Nuit Blanche in Paris; in the Diaspora, The Esplanade, Singapore; at the Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul; and in Show Me Thai, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. “Navins of Bollywood” was also presented at the Tang Contemporary Art in Bangkok, Thailand and most recently at Sakshi Gallery in Mumbai.
Navin Rawanchaikul is represented by Air de Paris, Paris, France.