Seeing abstraction as a way to process one's inner spirituality, philosophical contemplation, as well as concept of time, Po Po's works from the 1980s challenged the accepted modalities of painting in Myanmar. Nails are used to create dents on the canvas surface in white, which appears similar to the ridges of braille. The negation of representation and heighted physicality of the painting surface invites viewers to reconsider the very experience of painting. Po Po is a pioneering conceptual and performance artist from Myanmar. He made a first major debut through his solo exhibition in 1987 at the Myanmar Artist Association Centre in Yangon, presenting a series of experimental works exploring the limits and conceptual potentials of painting. During the time when access to the outside world was limited, his works were starkly different from his contemporaries.
