Born 1924 in Rangoon, British Burma
Died 1990, Yangon, Myanmar
In the emerging history of art in 20th-century Myanmar, Bagyi Aung Soe is regarded as the
trailblazer of modern Burmese art. He began as a dilettante in the 1940s, aspiring to be a
politically and socially-conscious cartoonist. His inventiveness and flair as a draftsman
won him an Indian government scholarship to study at the Visva-Bharati University
founded by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Without acceding to the hegemony of Western
Modernism, he experimented with Western avant-garde styles alongside other approaches
from various parts of the world. Through his art, he attempted to interpret the principles
of spiritual and mental conditioning behind the conception and fabrication of religious or
mystical symbols and diagrams.
Bagyi Aung Soe’s legacy in Burmese art lies not in the style of technique but in the awakening of a novel artistic consciousness allied with spiritual transformation removed from market concerns.
巴伊昂梭
1924 年出生於英屬緬甸仰光
1990年逝世於緬甸仰光
巴伊昂梭被譽為二十世紀緬甸新興藝術
史上重要的開拓者，這位緬甸當代藝術
家於1940年代原為業餘藝術愛好者，
志願成為關心政治和社會的漫畫家。憑
着天賦的創造力與繪畫的才華，他獲印
度政府頒發獎學金，負笈印度詩聖泰戈
爾（1861-1941）創辦的維斯瓦．巴拉蒂
大學。沒有跟隨西方現代主義主流的昂
梭，同步採用西方前衛風格與源自世界
各地的藝術手法，開始實驗自己的創
作。他嘗試透過作品詮釋宗教、神秘符
號和圖表背後的概念，探索其製造過程
中涉及的靈性法則及精神狀態。
昂梭留給緬甸當代藝術的遺產不在於風
格技巧，而是在於一種新藝術意識的
覺醒，及脫離市場關注的靈性轉化。
