Art Pairs With Booze When ‘Figure 8’ Opens Sunday

Photo: Figure 8 Bangkok / Facebook

BANGKOK — Celebrate the opening of a new shophouse-cum-bar and gallery with Japanese rope bondage and late-romantic French poetry.

Find a ruddy neon glow and tied-rope cross looming over Figure 8 Bangkok in a soi not so far from BTS Ratchathewi when it does a soft opening thing Sunday with drinks and its inaugural art installation.

Step into the venue to see Flowers of Evil, an exhibition inspired by Japanese shibari rope bondage. It consists of a neon-lit cross paired with a collection of framed fine art inspired by Baudelaire’s 1857 volume of poems “Les Fleurs du Mal.”

Sun-dried, banana-brewed Yod Beer Bearnana and lemongrass-infused vodka will be among the range of Thai craft beer, cocktails and ya dong (herb-infused liquor).

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Oranan Tangpanitanon said she opened Figure 8 with friends to sustain the local art scene, especially for a younger generation of artists.

“I’ve been in the art world for a long time, and I want to support the new generation of artists,” Oranon said, adding that prominent works these days are priced out of reach in the thousands or millions of baht.

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The venue will rotate exhibitions every two or three months, Oranan said. The official opening is expected to take place in late October or November, after the royal funeral for King Bhumibol is completed

Figure 8 Bangkok is located on Soi Petchaburi 13 and can be reached by foot from BTS Ratchathewi.

Photo: Figure 8 Bangkok / Facebook