Taschen's talent

From Thursday until April 15, Bangkok's Serindia Gallery morphs into the first pop-up Taschen store in Southeast Asia, featuring Taschen's art editions as well as a selection of Taschen's recent books.

On display will be several unique book productions, among them Tadao Ando's Art Edition (in a custom oakwood box), Mark Ryden's "Pinxi" (Collector's Edition), Norman Mailer and Bert Stern's "Marilyn Monroe", "The Pedro Almodovar Archives" (Art Edition), "The Modernist Cuisine" (six volumes) plus many other Taschen titles.

With Taschen's flagship shops designed by Philippe Starck, the exhibition also features Philippe Starck's Play with Dedon furniture and the Dedon campaign by Bruce Weber.

The exhibition will also highlight products from local designers selected by the Serinda Gallery in celebration of the "Art + Design" exhibition.

The gallery is located at OP Garden 4 on Charoen Krung Road, Soi 36. Find out more at www.SerindiaGallery.com.

Inspired by the masters

Chiang Mai-born painter Pakitsilp varamissara will have a retrospective exhibition at the National Gallety from next Friday until February 29, as part of La Fête.

On display are 100 works he has been creating over the past three decades. The artist oscillates between tradition and modernity, and he's is subtly influenced by the style of Lanna.

During a trip to France, initiated by the Toot Yung Gallery in 2009, Pakitsilp discovered and was inspired by the great French masters. He radically simplified his technique and began using the vibrant colours that characterise his work. The National Gallery show is curated by the Toot Yong Gallery's Myrtille Tibayrenc.

From February 24 to March 31, the artists will create work in-situ in the lobby of the Pullman Bangkok Hotel. For more details, visit www.LaFete-Bangkok.com.

Art for a desert island

A satellite Louvre art gallery will open in Abu Dhabi in 2015 and a Guggenheim museum in 2017.

That's behind schedule - probably because of the global economy - but US$30 billion has been approved for those facilities and the Zayed National Museum on the island of Saadiyat.

The emirate's tourism board says "substantial work has already been completed" and art acquisitions are "well underway".

US architect Frank Gehry designed the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim - set to be bigger than the ones in New York, Berlin, Bilbao, Las Vegas and Venice - and France's Jean Nouvel conceived "the desert Louvre".

It's all part of "Abu Dhabi 2030", an ambitious modernisation scheme that includes a diversified economy.