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{{short description|Cambodian- American artist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
'''Monirith Chhea''' (born 1960s) is a Cambodian- American visual artist from [[Phnom Penh]]. He is cited as one of the notable Cambodian-American artists who has worked with [[charcoal]].<ref name="Bayor2011">{{cite book|last=Bayor|first=Ronald H.|title=Multicultural America: An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans (4 volumes): An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YN9jC2_7UHYC&pg=PA223|date=July 22, 2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35787-9|page=223}}</ref> The Art and Culture Program of [[SIDO (organization)|Sido]] mentions Chhea as an example of Khmer art along with [[Narath Tan]], [[Svay Pithoubandith]]
and [[Emmanuel Nhean]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sido-cvl.org/art%26culture.html|title=Art and Culture Program|publisher=SIDO|accessdate=September 28, 2014|archive-date=June 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626014056/http://sido-cvl.org/art%26culture.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010 he appeared in the documentary ''[[Rain Falls from Earth: Surviving Cambodia's Darkest Hour]]'', a grim account of those who fled Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sms.cz/film/rain-falls-from-earth-surviving-cambodia-s-darkest-hour|title=Rain Falls from Earth: Surviving Cambodia's Darkest Hour|publisher=Sms.cz|accessdate=September 28, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120141/http://www.sms.cz/film/rain-falls-from-earth-surviving-cambodia-s-darkest-hour|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Biography==
Facing starvation and torture from the [[Khmer Rouge]], by the age of ten he separated from his family in a labor camp and later in a refugee camp in Thailand. Eventually he came to live in California whilst his family immigrated to Canada. He began a career as an artist as a way to deal with his suffering. His paintings and drawings generally symbolize negative themes such as starvation, sickness, and death.<ref name="Mekong">{{cite web|url=http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/monirith.htm|title=Monirith Chhea|publisher=Mekong.net|accessdate=September 28, 2014|archive-date=September 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923041622/http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/monirith.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

One of his early [[charcoal]] drawings, ''Childhood'', completed in 1988, is of faceless Khmer Rouge soldier, represented as a demon-like figure. Another larger oil painting, ''Boys in the Field'', completed in 1991, depicts starved young boys working as slaves, struggling to carry heavy bags of rice. The blue sky and the large palm trees in the background represent hope.<ref name="Mekong"/>

In 1993, he completed the small oil painting ''Re-Education'', using images of skulls to represent those murdered at the [[Khmer Rouge Killing Fields|Killing Fields]]; the bright colors such as red and orange around the skulls represents the blood which was shed during the massacres of the regime. However his work occasionally covers happier subject matter. In 1994, he showcased his work at Wenche Larson's Blue Moon Studio and Art Gallery in [[Skokie, Illinois]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Art Now Gallery Guide: International|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0W8gAQAAMAAJ|date=January 1994|publisher=Art Now, Inc.|page=42}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chhea, Monirith}}
[[Category:1960s births]]
[[Category:Cambodian painters]]
[[Category:Khmer Rouge]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Cambodian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:21st-century painters]]
[[Category:Male painters]]
[[Category:People from Phnom Penh]]
[[Category:20th-century Cambodian artists]]
[[Category:21st-century Cambodian artists]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Monirith Chhea - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* References */ add Category:Year of birth missing (living people)