FOUR established modern artists have joined forces to bring new and exciting art forms to the public. Their show, entitled “Hitch Dreams Contemporary Art Exhib-ition”, opened from September 1 to 6 at Yangon’s Law Ka Nat Gallery.

Ko Aye Ko, 45, entered two of his paintings into the exhibition. “In “Spring”, I painted the feelings of the season, featuring its warm and hot colours. “A Good year” is the name of a film I once saw and have now painted in my own technique, using ancient Buddha images. I like juxtaposing different subjects. When I paint, I often attach real things to my pictures that connect with society and the surroundings.”

Ko Aye Ko says international artists are always creating new things. They apply high technique in creating video art and installation art using machines. Since this is costly, Myanmar artists cannot afford to do it, although they would like to. He rebuts the idea that modern art is very difficult to learn, but says it is hard to study here because Myanmar has no museums, institutes or classes to teach it.

“My paintings here are based on space aliens. My interest in aliens started three years ago, when I gazed at the sky one night and decided to paint them. I was motivated to paint these pictures using my own inner sensitivity to colour. I used only yellow, green, red and blue, plus white as a joker colour” says Ko Jeu, 43.

Ko Z, 35, thinks small is beautiful, less is more. He portrays these feelings through his talent, projecting feelings of thoughtfulness and solitude by the use of a limited number of objects. He said his three ‘Small Dimension’ pictures are like a series – “Small Dimension I” conveys the sense of a growing realisation, emerging from a darkened world of soft reds with a thin white line as a light.

For Ko Thar Gyi, 52, the idea behind his painting “Magic Box” came quite suddenly. He said: “Some of my neighbours said they discovered in my paintings objects that were not meant to be there. So I think my pictures are like a magic box, and I decided to paint it. What the viewer sees in the painting depends on his or her feelings.”

He said he started painting landscapes in watercolour but then changed his painting style and studied modern art. He believes his change of focus is like ‘loving when I want to love, eating when I want to eat’.

The artists are also eager to foster the next generation of painters. To do this they are pooling their knowledge at the New Zero Art Space, offering a room free of charge and establishing a library for everyone interested in art. New Zero Art Space has 32 members, who pay for their classes by selling their paintings.

They also hold exhibitions for their students during the holidays. As the next step to promote the modern art industry, the artists’ group is arranging to rent a new room to create a learners’ studio. They are hoping to improve modern art, spurred on by the passion with which so many learners pursue new knowledge.