A journey, indeed is what Somyot Hananuntasuk has had in his career - spanning 50 years and counting. Though not a formal retrospective, “50 Years in Munich : Bridge Over Troubled Water” gathers a collection of works by Somyot Hananuntasuk from 1972 through to 2022. Distinctively separated into three phases, the exhibition is an examination of Hananuntasuk’s life stories, one of a young Thai artist navigating his way in a foreign land, exploring his artistic voice despite the challenges and crisis he faced. Hananuntasuk studied at the College of Fine Arts, the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts at Silpakorn University in Bangkok Thailand where he studied and had a chance to work with esteemed artist and poet, Tang Chang. He later furthered his academic training at the Munich Academy of Art in Germany studying painting with Professor Günter Fruhtrunk after obtaining the DADD scholarship in 1972. His early works belonged to the Surrealism family expressed in mostly black and white paintings painted with oil on canvas. The content of Hananuntasuk’s early works conveys darkness, pressure and frustration and unconsciously reflected his state of mind at the time. He described his works during this time as a sort of therapy, healing his troubles and frustrations through his artistic expressions. Once he arrived in Germany, everything has changed. He discovered a new environment together with a new way of living and his old feelings of pressure began to unravel. Still, Hananuntasuk believed that once an artist has worked in a certain style, he must continue to work in that same way. Due to his new state of life, his mind and feelings have changed while the work that he used to create were full of problems and frustrations that he could no longer come to express naturally. Thus, this created a conflict within himself that progressively became so severe, it was a new crisis. The works at that time failed which in turn, affected his health. This was the turning point of his life and work and he began seeking psychotherapy, became interested in Vipassana meditation and has been practicing Tai Chi ever since. He said that the crisis gradually changed his old beliefs, he stopped clinging to what he had done in the past and as a result, his life and work changed in a new direction. With inspiration from ancient textiles of different nations, he developed the ideas into paintings. He also pulled inspirations from the pottery of the Art Deco period, from where he had noticed that designers and artists from all disciplinary were inspired by Asian art. This period of time saw brighter hues being used in contrast with black, abstract color blocking with techniques such as dripping paint reflective of the swaying hems of the textiles he was inspired by. These days, Hananuntasuk feels more free with each piece of work that he creates, something which came with time, age and experience. He no longer works from a source of concrete inspiration but from his emotions and how he feels at each moment in time. As time passed, it is not amiss that his works reflect just that, moving from dark and gruesome surrealism to a dynamic abstract display of colors in endless possibilities. It is evident that Hananuntasuk’s life is intrinsically linked to his work and it is a great testimony for all and especially for inspiring artists alike that as humans we are capable of changing, evolving and becoming the truest versions of ourselves with time, strength and patience. The exhibition is not curated in any chronological order and in that, we hope that the audience will find themselves immersed in all the facets and periods of time which makes Somyot Hananuntasuk, the celebrated artist he is today.