Myint Swe, a painter of modern art in Myanmar

Myint Swe, a Painter of Modern Art in Myanmar

Myint Swe belongs to a nice and pious Rakhine family. He completed his fine arts education at the Yangon School of Fine Arts and obtained his degree from the Rangoon University in 1981. His paintings depict flames of feelings and peacefulness of mind. He is a prolific painter in various styles and moods. During the years 1975 - 98 he participated in more than 40 art exhibitions in Myanmar, and his presentations caught the eyes of art lovers and collectors. Myint Swe has been engaged in the Vision Art Gallery, Shwetaungyar (Golden Valley) since 1995 and paved his way to the hill-top of modern art. He is married to a simple, but highly educated Rakhine country girl, and has four children. They have shifted from Taung-goke and met many irregularities in life. Once under the conduct of his parents and loving relatives support, he set foot in the film industry to become a film star. Under his own star, fortunately, he was swindled and betrayed by his bosom friends. His film career was murdered in the very first chapter. This experience altered his life, and he became a civil servant for many years.

Myint Swe was persuaded to leave the office beautifully and as a result, he became a freelancer; self-made, dynamic and creative artist with multiple approaches. In addition, he got experiences with printing and chemicals from parental industry. It pushed him into a new technique of painting, which some conventional and stiff-necked artists and people do not accept. Perhaps it is based on the concept that an artist must have one and only one style of painting or "ism". Should Myint Swe go one way or follow multiple lines? It is his birth right to walk his own path. Let's coin a word, "polymedianism". It is akin to variety. By bold and timid strokes, he might raise towards the grand old impressionists whom he admires; Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet, Boudin, Pissaro and Sisley. Should he ignore Paul Signac’s La Beau Rouge? Have a heart! Sale is sale, reputation is reputation and fame is fame. Can't he use the powerful and influential strokes and colour-mingle styles of U Ngwe Gaing, U Lun Gwe, U Kyi, S Tin Shwe, Paw Oo Thet and Bagyi Maung Ngwe Htoon? He almost always thinks, feels and reads people's lives as comedies and tragedies, which push him to become a philosopher. Myint Swe is good at depicting realism, skilful in the style of expressionism, and creative in modern styles. He presented the Modern City Art exhibition on 12 – 20 September 1998 at the well-known Lokanat Gallery in Yangon. He staged 122 paintings, and it jolted Yangon artists for its daring and sensitive show. Myint Swe also writes short-stories about his beloved paintings. Notes for the above-mentioned show were written in French -- the only show of its kind in Myanmar. The exhibition was launched with French modern songs, and many art-lovers visited and appreciated the show. At present, Myint Swe has painted oils for Yamada Hotel, diplomats, aliens, company bosses, UN officials, foreigners, galleries, art dealers and many from the elite. For my own part, he is a painter with grand paintings composed of many colours, huge canvases, big teak and golden sprayed frames. He is a middle-sized man, but his paintings are majestic in a sense. Titles such as The world upside-down, Cock fighting, The lady's hair hanging loose, Might and right and Mist in the rain have double meanings and show the complicated fabric of human beings and an entangled society. When scrutinised and studied in detail, his display of emotions and feelings is a mixture of facts and feelings. His basic concepts and strokes reflect the foot-prints of his grand masters but he has also proved his own way. His concepts are based on maturity and creativity, on Western and European styles as well as schools which are not limited to a certain locality, but international in scope. Art has no boundaries as it marches through countries at a lightning speed. Myint Swe is a person who never says die. He paints with a loving kindness to transform pictures into rubies. It may happen in the near future that he will set the Thames on fire in order to get adequate light for beams to shine on his lovely paintings. May he paint for the rest of his life.
*Kt Tint Lwin Tuu*
Yangon, Myanmar



Myint Swe at work	Myint Swe with his father	Myint Swe with his family