Andy Gotts Exhibition To Open Akyra Chiang Mai Hotel

Andy Gotts Exhibition in Chiang Mai

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND – raise the bar on style in the northern capital’s art precinct and ‘coffee street’, Nimman Haemin, can get some ‘face time’ with their favourite Hollywood superstars – and meet the man who shot them.

On August 1st, 2015, akyra Chiang Mai Hotel opens its doors, transplanting an urban attitude and bringing a new level of finesse and sophistication to the ‘Rose of the North’, beginning with the August 21, 2015 Thailand premiere of an exhibition opening of an exclusive Thailand premiere of the sought-after and celebrated portraiture of Dr Andy Gotts MBE.

AHMS — The Collection founder and managing director Anchalika Kijkanakorn, whose boutique hotel group will operate the new property, developed in partnership with Singapore’s Manor Group, said the Andy Gotts exhibition was a statement of intent of the level of artistic excellence and calibre of cutting edge artists the hotel planned to bring to Chiang Mai.

“It’s an honour and very exciting to have just had Dr Andy Gotts confirm his attendance in Chiang Mai to open the exhibition of his work,” Ms Kijkanakorn said. “His portraits have won him fans all over the world, not least in the Hollywood mansions and corridors of power.

“You think you know the faces and characters of Hollywood’s A-List pretty well from the movies and magazines,” she said. “Then you look at the work of Andy Gotts, and you get it. What you see is a mask, an elaborate facade and a persona, something larger than life.

“Andy Gotts gets behind that mask somehow, armed with his camera, a cup of tea and some conversation. He manages to find the real person or a side of the superstars that you haven’t seen before. They are powerful, mesmerising images. If you are interested in art, movies and photography, this is an event you simply don’t want to miss.”

Ms Kijkanakorn said akyra Manor Chiang Mai was offering an introductory rate of THB 4,200 ++ for the first three months of operations, making it the perfect opportunity to come and check out the Andy Gotts exhibition while also experiencing akyra Manor’s urban chic and warm service.

She said akyra Manor’s location in the heart of Nimman Haemin, a bustling and vibrant new quarter of Chiang Mai which had become a favourite hangout of the city’s university students and burgeoning community of artists, was the perfect locus from which to give the city’s art scene a short sharp kick in the pants.

“This is just the beginning,” Ms Kijkanakorn said. “We are putting the finishing touches on a schedule of exhibition openings and artist showcases and workshops which will be announced once the smoke clears from the launch.”

akyra manor chiang mai Andy Gotts exhibition

Dr Gotts, an English man who divides his time between London and New York, has become renowned for black and white or monochrome studio portraits of Hollywood royalty and other celebrities revealing the person behind the mask of fame.

Each of akyra Manor Chiang Mai’s luxurious, contemporary and very spacious suites will feature a large, limited edition Gotts piece – in the form of a montage of shots from his ‘contact sheets’. The subjects are some of the biggest names of stage and screen, including George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett, as you’ve never seen them before.

Mr Gotts said: “Even though I have been given the title ‘celebrity photographer’ I have always seen myself as a photographer of actors. I have always been a movie buff and getting the opportunity to meet my matinée idols is beyond a dream come true. I specialize in character studies of the face and try to show a new and different side of world famous faces in my ‘warts and all’ style.”

Ms Kijkanakorn said the prints brought the rooms to life and complemented perfectly the glamorous touches like a large al fresco hot tub in each suite. “Have a soak outside, with some bubbly, under the stars … then come in and sleep under the stars as well. George Clooney or Brad Pitt? Decisions, decisions.”

9 Degrees of Kevin Spacey: And all degrees of awesome, according to just about anyone familiar with the studio portraits of Dr Andy Gotts, revealing the humanity behind the mask of some of the biggest names in movies.