Photograph: Wattanchot Tungateja
Photograph: Wattanchot Tungateja | Photograph: Wattanchot Tungateja
Photograph: Wattanchot Tungateja

Art exhibitions in Chiang Mai this June

Your monthly roundup of what’s on across galleries, museums and independent spaces in the north

Marisa Marchitelli
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This month Chiang Mai’s art scene moves from international printmaking exchanges and dual gallery openings to Pride Month photography and playful community-led programming. 

Chiang Mai Art Museum kicks things off with Bloom 2, pairing two painters with distinct approaches to nature and abstraction, while Hello, Print Friend Studios hosts a cross-cultural printmaking exchange featuring 20 international artists alongside notable Chiang Mai practitioners. 

June 6 is particularly busy, with La Luna opening two exhibitions across both floors and Alliance Française Chiang Mai stepping backstage into the world of drag cabaret through David Gentil’s black-and-white photography. Later in the month, Haan Studio closes out the roundup with an art-and-performance-led exhibition that leans into experimentation and community gathering.

This international printmaking exchange brings together artists from Chiang Mai and members of Southern Graphics Council International in a collaborative exhibition built around cross-cultural dialogue through print. Featuring the work of 20 international printmaking artists, alongside participating Chiang Mai-based artists including esteemed printmaker Kitikong Tilokwattanotai of CAP Studio, the show spans a range of techniques, perspectives and approaches to contemporary printmaking. Shared process and creative exchange sit at the centre, with artists responding to one another through the medium of print.

June 5-30. Hello, Print Friend Studios at Light Bulb. Hussadhisawee Road, Chang Phuak. Opening reception June 5, 6pm, by appointment after that

La Luna launches two exhibitions at once this month. Upstairs, OVERTHINK brings together Wattanchot Tungateja, Isara Veeranoi, Chawalit Thong-on and Sirasak Chusingh in a group show exploring the tension between analysis and instinct, inviting viewers to sit with feeling before interpretation kicks in. Downstairs, Natthawoot Rungpunk’s solo exhibition Spirit of Growth takes a more introspective route, using symbolic forms and organic imagery to reflect on change, transition and gradual transformation.

June 6-July 12. La Luna Gallery. 193 Charoenrat Road, Wat Gate. Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm. Opening reception June 6, 5pm-7pm

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Timed for Pride Month, this photography exhibition steps behind the curtain of Chiang Mai’s drag cabaret scene through a series of black-and-white images by David Gentil. In-Between: Behind the Mirror focuses on the transitional moments where performance identities are assembled, capturing the tension between construction, transformation and self-expression. Opening night includes three live drag performances, making this one feel closer to an event than a standard exhibition launch.

June 6-29. Alliance Française Chiang Mai. 138 Charoen Prathet Road, Chang Khlan. Mon-Sat 9am-6pm. Opening reception June 6, 5pm

Bloom 2 pairs two painters with distinct but complementary approaches. Srijai Kuntawang, a Lamphun-born artist and professor with a long academic and artistic career in the north, brings a practice shaped by decades of work across graphic arts and painting, often rooted in an affinity for nature and everyday life. Alongside him, Auxchanok Chirakul presents vibrant contemporary works that move between abstraction and imagined natural forms, building layered compositions inspired by colour, landscape and subconscious perception. Together, the exhibition offers a conversation between established practice and more expressive contemporary painting.

June 1-30. Chiang Mai Art Museum. Ban Sa Ha Khon, Mae On. 9am-5pm. Opening reception June 1, 6pm

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Haan Studio hosts Art & Toy Exhibition / Chiangmai Happy Cloud this month, a group exhibition bringing together playful visual work with an environmental focus in one of Chiang Mai’s newer independent art spaces. Positioned somewhere between contemporary art showcase and community gathering, the show leans into experimentation, informality and a lighter, more playful tone. Expect art activities and a drawing contest rewarded with an art scholarship. 

May 23-June 13. Haan Studio. Charoen Muang Road, Sanpakoi. 10am-4.30pm

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Chitti Kasemkitvatana’s latest exhibition lands as the final part of a three-year project looking at time. Titled ‘Epilogue: A Diffraction Grating’, the show pulls together references from science, religion and personal memory, using light as a starting point for how things overlap and shift. The idea of superposition runs through the work, where multiple states exist at once rather than settling into a single reading. There’s a walk with the artist on opening day if you want more context, but the exhibition holds its own if you prefer to move through it at your own pace.

Opening reception May 16, 6:30pm-8pm. Gallery Seescape. 22/1 Soi 17 Nimmanhaemin Road. Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm. May 16-July 30

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Kailash Mani’s solo show leans into what they describe as ‘Outsider Art’, with work that sits outside formal structures and draws heavily from personal experience. Themes of migration, memory, loss and hope run through the exhibition, with a mix of raw imagery and more introspective pieces. Curated by Jirarat Chaiyarach and Reinhard Kressner, the show opens on May 16 from 6pm. Head High Second Floor operates as a non-profit space within a residential setting in the Old Town, so visits tend to feel more informal than a typical gallery.

Opening reception May 16, 6pm onwards. Head High Second Floor. 28/1 Singharat Road, Si Phum, Old Town. By appointment only. Closed Wednesdays and Sundays. May 16-June 26

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