Aung Ko

Artist Aung Ko was born in Shwetaung, a small town that is rich in cultural buildings. He studied art at the National University of Art and Culture and graduated in 2001. Since then he has created various themed paintings. He mostly depicts the old cultural buildings around his town to commemorate and appreciate them. He believes that old is gold. His favourite medium is oil colour and sometimes, he enjoys painting with watercolour whenever he goes outdoors for painting. On those occasions, he finds himself in reverie.

He has exhibited a lot of art exhibitions at home and he has also had the chance to show abroad including in Chiang Mai in 2015 and also at Burma Rising: The first Contemporary Art Show, Boston, USA in 2017. He has two solo exhibitions under his belt and, his third solo show was at Kalasa art space, also marking his birthday and turning 41.

To quote Artist Aung Ko, “I would like to create these paintings to present what I value; the old buildings and the ones who built them. Most of the buildings were destroyed in the war and some deteriorated because they didn’t have enough maintenance and care.

Artist Aung Ko mainly would love to give a message to the audiences to value our old cultural buildings and keep them well. This is the best way to give cultural inheritance to the next generations. ” Artist Aung Ko has been working on this series titled “OLD IS GOLD” since 2015 but in late 2017, his sentiments grew stronger, his creativity got finer and his approach, bolder.

His paintings seek to showcase the bold colours and expressive forms that are the artist’s signature style that reflects a modernist aesthetic based on the artist’s belief that the depth of cultural and historical contexts, as well as personal mythologies, reflect in his imagery.