Narong Tintamusik, Soul Sequencing: Unveiling Ancestral Topography
Exhibition • April 13–May 4, 2024
Gallery hours
Saturday, April 13, 11am-3pm
Saturday, April 20, 11am-3pm
Saturday, April 27, 11am-3pm
Friday, May 3, 6–9pm – Artist’s Reception
Saturday, May 4, 11am-3pm – Last Look
Artist’s Statement
In Soul Sequencing: Unveiling Ancestral Topography, Narong Tintamusik reimagines medical documentation through etched and painted wood panels, capturing human health’s physiological and spiritual dimensions. Inspired by Cameroonian theorist Achille Mbembe’s insights into necropolitics and Victorian physicist Oliver Lodge’s empirical pursuit of the “soul,” Tintamusik’s work delves into the survival of the spirit within the context of mortality, cultural preservation, and the inherent will to endure.
The exploitation of the body and mind for labor while neglecting essential resources is prevalent in today’s societies. This stark reality breeds inequality across sectors like nutrition, healthcare, and education, creating a populace akin to the living dead. Through an exploration of symbols from Thai heritage, Tintamusik’s paintings serve as resistance against these societal constraints, affirming the sovereignty of the body. Despite adversity, the artworks illuminate the resilience and sanctity inherent in each individual’s internal landscape, challenging prevailing narratives of detachment with compassion and radiance.
About the Artist
Narong Tintamusik (ณรงค์ ตินตมุสิก) is an artist and curator based in Dallas, TX. His work is autobiographical, mining elements from his 2nd-Generation Thai-American upbringing, Queer identity, Buddhist spirituality, and previous career in the biological sciences. Through painting and its iterations, he finds alternative survival modes as a form of resistance against the current biopolitics of society.
Born in Dallas, TX, he lived in Bangkok, Thailand, for ten years. In 2014, he obtained his undergraduate biology degree from the University of Texas at Dallas with a minor in visual arts. He is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from the University of North Texas. Before entering graduate school, he worked in the environmental science industry for seven years.
He has exhibited in group shows locally in Dallas, TX, and beyond, including Chicago, New York, Canada, and Germany. Solo exhibitions include Daisha Board Gallery (Dallas, TX), 500X (Dallas, TX), Plush Gallery (Dallas, TX), Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX), and Angelina College (Lufkin, TX). He is the recipient of the DeGoyler Memorial Fund (Dallas Museum of Art 2015), Art Walk West Microgrant (West Dallas Chamber of Commerce 2021), and the Puffin Foundation Grant (Puffin Foundation 2022). He was a part of the artist-run gallery 500X from 2019-2022.