Off the wall? Hardly. Left field? Yes. One of the works by d.e.a. on show at Gallery 346.

Street art – the kind that evolved from graffiti in France in the 1940s, is now a worldwide phenomenon. In Thailand, unlike, say, New York, street artists are polite, generally civic-minded people. True, what they do is, strictly speaking, illegal. But they don’t spray-paint buses or trains, or the windows of banks. Their work appears exclusively on walls no one seems to want – where a building is being demolished, art will mushroom overnight. Abandoned, crumbling structures similarly get the midnight treatment.

Much of the street artists’ work that appears in Phuket (indeed, Thailand as a whole) is derivative – the angular, spiky text, for example. These days, young Thais tend to take their cultural cues from Tokyo. The days of American cultural domination are long gone, so the artists’ work also contain references to manga – Japanese comic books. And there are also, naturally, Thai motifs. Much of the art also has connections to Thailand’s lively hip-hop scene.

Although Thailand has yet to see work as outstandingly original as that of Banksy, Swoon or Neck Face, there is still some interesting art out there for all to see.

Just as elsewhere, the energy and talent of some of the top graffiti artists has attracted buyers and patrons and has moved the art from the street into art galleries. One such exhibition has just opened at Gallery 346 in Phuket Town, showcasing work by d.e.a., aka Kitja Yamunsabedin, and TG, aka TorLarb Intararuensorn.

Sophisticated typography by TG.

Both did their time on the street, starting in 1994 in the same “crew”. But in the intervening 15 years they have received corporate recognition, with their work appearing in competitions organised by the likes of the MBK Center in Bangkok, Singha Soda and Red Bull, and even at the highly respectable Chulalongkorn University, the country’s equivalent of Oxford or Harvard.

Gallery 346 is at the intersection of Phuket Road and Kra Road in Phuket Town, not far from the Robinson department store. Apart from the gallery, the building also contains a café and three basic but cheerfully comfortable guest rooms.

The exhibition continues until mid-June and is open to all.

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