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Art KL-itique 2014 Look Back

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Following in the tradition of my favourite non-authoritative end of year awards, the 2014 visual art events in Kuala Lumpur that tickled my fancy are…

Favourite programming: Goethe Institut’s visual arts events; Furniture and photography exhibitions at Galeri Petronas, and the wonderful drawings at Galeri Serdang, prove refreshing with its creative interpretations of common mediums. Walking in the surroundings of Petaling Street at daybreak with Susanne Bosch remains a vivid memory, and so are the performances and newspaper cut-outs exhibited towards the end of the German artist’s residency at Lostgens'.

Favourite solo (new) exhibition: The Pleasures of Odds and Ends; Gan Siong King's show of paintings triggered a ridiculous amount of thoughts about images, and will be remembered as good art despite a negative assessment. Azliza Ayob’s surreal collages were decorative, fun, and showed significant artistic growth for one committed artist.

Phuan Thai Meng - Game (study) (2003) [picture taken from TM's Painting Lab web log]

Favourite solo (not-so-new) exhibition: 12 Years of Visual Disobedience; Political posters by Fahmi Redza show how graphic design can be an effective tool for social activism. Outside of KL, one IsmailHashimsurvey revealed the strong hand and masterful presentation of its curator. Its producer Fergana Art figures to be a upcoming disruptive force in the local visual arts scene.

Favourite group (new) exhibition: A tie between The Good Malaysian Woman and 刻舟求剑 - Pulau Melayu - Lost and Found. The former displayed superb artworks that covered many mediums, and coincided with a significant life milestone. Vivid images of a giant paper boat rotting on the rooftop, tarpaulins layered with paints, and colourful nonsensical characters, mark the latter as a successful outing for a self-organised artists' exhibition. Minstrel Kuik’s sublime photographs and her impeccable use of space in both exhibitions, strike one as the most memorable art seen this year.

Minstrel Kuik - The Prisoner's Landscape - after Pudu Jail (2014)

Favourite group (not-so-new) exhibition:The Fine Artof Fabrics; Beautiful printed works by Fatimah Chik and Sivam Selvaratnam were presented alongside Syed Ahmad Jamal, whose textiles are more impressive than his painting output. Among two Malaysian sculpture-collector exhibitions, Jumping Jack Flash left a better impression due to its less obvious intent to downplay the role of the public institution. These three shows were an invaluable resource in understanding Malaysian visual art beyond paintings.

Favourite use of exhibition space:505·祭墨; Taoist charms hanging among antique furniture at Petaling Street Art House befitted the wishful content of its calligraphic verses. Crunching on Styrofoam boxes while ascending the steps of Chin Thye Hin was memorable, as young artists utilised the sun-drenched space for a pleasant viewing experience.

Hasnul J Saidon - Siri Hijab Nurbaya - Tanggung (2003)

Favourite Something New: Yau Sir Meng’s education-themed installations blew me away with the maturity in expression, while the subversive works of Engku Iman were thoroughly enjoyable.

Least favourite trend: Paintings that isolate figures on a nondescript or nostalgic background, subscribe to market forces that impede further local appreciation for more progressive art-making. Photography is a superior medium for such modes of portraiture, and artists need to expand their horizons beyond portraying simple dichotomies.

Favourite art writing: Ong Jo-Lene’s essay that accompanied Language of the Jungle was necessary to dispel my dismissal of exotic images painted by Tan Wei Kheng. The email exchange between Jun Kit and Tan Zi Hao for Gangguan provided a glimpse into the artists' minds, which proved useful in appreciating the exhibited artworks better.

Installation view of Yau Sir Meng - Melting (2013) [exhibited at Under Construction]

Snippets: Singapore Art Museum, Dec 2014

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Heman Chong’s wall texts at the reception area of the Singapore Art Museum ends with “(s)ome of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.” This clever statement forecasts the unrealised expectations of viewing “Medium at Large”, an exhibition that aims to challenge traditional art categories, which works are arranged loosely by the medium it subverts. Also showing at the main building are works by finalists of the Signature Art Prize 2014, a lucrative award accorded to regional artists, which submissions are nominated and judged by art professionals. Seen together in one visit, “(t)here’s a wonderful sense of flow as you move (from) one artwork to another and forms overlap…” (Mayo Martin). Labels provide contexts for a collection of great individual art, as the hit-or-miss curatorial layout and competition judging issues recede to the background.

Early 'right-hand side' version of Lisa Reihana - in Pursuit of Venus (2012) [from in Pursuit of Venuswebsite]

On the first floor, a 21-metre lenticular print of a street in Lahore impresses with its visual trickery, while Nguyen Trinh Thi’s projection of artists eating – last seen at the Singapore Biennale – remains compelling with its message of solidarity. Glittering portraits of Filipino leaders drawn with live bullets, and a jogger’s statue constructed from pink foam and bodily close-ups, show captivating approaches towards the act of seeing/making. Chen Sai Hua Kuan’s imaginative and potent take on the line in ‘Space Drawing 5’, illustrates a dynamic process that complements the technical mastery of Ian Woo and Nadiah Bamadhaj exhibited in the adjacent room. Photographic and video documentation of derelict buildings in Taiwan by the Lost Society Document, present an astonishing project where activism led to a governmental response.

Installation views of Yao Jui-Chung + Lost Society Document (LSD) - Mirage – Disused Public Property in Taiwan (2010–2014)

In contrast to the social implications implied by captures of mosquito halls 蚊子館, some exhibited works display an overbearing self-indulgence, especially the space and time wasting video installations by Ho Tzu Nyen. Humour is a more effective strategy for artful performances, evident from the wicked pleasure of seeing Melati Suryodarmo fall over slabs of butter, rather than watching the tedious charcoal-smashing by the same artist upstairs. Burnt furniture and blank tomes strike a sombre mood in Titarubi’s ‘Shadow of Surrender’, the pervasive use of wood alluding to a forgotten natural wisdom. Truncated drawings of forests lead on nicely to Natee Utarit’s classical and enormous painting, whose use of allegory is simplistic when compared to the mind-bending re-staging employed by Wong Hoy Cheong and Annie Cabigting in works hung opposite.

Snapshots from Melati Suryodarmo - Exergie – Butter Dance (Sao Paolo)

Distorted paintings and crafted artefacts make up the disappointingly few items on show from Alan Oei’s remarkable body of work “The End of History”. Projecting an individual’s story in a more dynamic approach is Ranbir Kaleka’s ‘He Was A Good Man’, the painting/video distinctly different from the habitat loss alluded to in ‘House of Opaque Water’. Indicative of how far behind award-winning Malaysian artists are, no shortlisted entries for the Signature Art Prize employ painting as its medium. Installed along the staircase wall, Liu Jianhua’s magnified ink traces ape the Chinese painting tradition with clever references to the 屋漏痕 calligraphic aesthetic. Being hypnotised by the smooth movements of Choe U-Ram’s mythical seal in a dark room, is also a far cry from watching mechanical birds flap its clunky wings closer to home.

Video stills from Chen Sai Hua Kuan - Space Drawing 5 (2009)

Two works that trigger one’s historical imagination leave the deepest impressions – Lisa Reihana’s scrolling panorama which animates a neoclassical French wallpaper, and Naeem Mohaiemen’s drawn-over photographs and grey sandstone moulds that reminisces upon Dhaka sixty years ago. Sitting on a Victorian sofa and watching images of the New World in the former, serene botanical landscapes are interrupted by colonial violence at unexpected junctures. One reviewer calls the latter’s small models “anthills, the steps of an agora, and a forest’s edge…”, these beautifully-carved objects drawing one’s attention to the personal story, behind photographs of cats taken by the artist’s father. Such captivating examples of how art leads to narratives beyond its medium’s confines, further demonstrates how mastery of a medium is an afterthought in contemporary art.

Promotional video for Naeem Mohaiemen - Rankin Street, 1953 (2013)

Snippets: Gillman Barracks, Dec 2014

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When most exhibition spaces in Gillman Barracks closed during year-end, Singaporean galleries Fost and Yeo Workshop extend a neighbour’s welcome by staying open. A new visitor’s disappointment is soothed when viewing Amsterdam-based Xue Mu’s astonishing works in the latter space. Thin black cloth with moon images are suspended from the ceiling, its folding screens-like arrangement actually referencing the Monoceros constellation. The surprise continues when observing its wall prints, as the unsettling moon pictures are revealed to be microscopic snapshots of bath foam in a black tub. As Jesse van Winden’s catalogue essay states, “(t)hey are reconstructed constellations of another order, of the personal subconscious and the collective conscious, like meta-Rorschach imagery in the white cubes of contemporary art.“

Installation snapshot at Xue Mu - A Childish Nothingness [picture from Yeo Workshop event webpage]

“A Childish Nothingness 2014” series of photographs mesmerise with its juxtaposition of objects on a tactile background. Use of an advertising-grade technical camera render captivating pictures out of toys, shoes, and bananas on marble tiles. One greyscale ‘Moon Map’ acts as the literal vanishing point and background for dead stuff and a crumpled roll of white ribbon, the meta-composition translating scrap into pictorial markers. Onto a different critique, the red and blue golf ball in ‘Ball Etc’, attracts visual interest and isolates one’s perception of colour. Shadows cast in these images emphasise the materiality of things seen from a top-down perspective; the artist also displays such three-dimensional and seemingly incompatible objects within Perspex boxes. Pacing between print and physical object, perspective breaks down and the essence of things are all that remain.

Xue Mu - A Childish Nothingness / Moon Map (2014)

Deconstructing the medium of film is the apparent approach for Yang Fudong, whose four video installations are exhibited at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art. Visitors enter a room embellished with dark flowery wallpaper, where varying screens and photographs present the same actress in action. Multiple projections of “About the Unknown Girl – Ma Sise” explore the notion of posing for the camera, but its large-scale documentation feels more like peeking into the concealed archives of a stalker. More straightforward is ‘On the Double Dragon Hills’, a fascinating black & white sequence made from the footage of ‘Blue Kylin’. Human industry and mechanical power describe process actions at a stone quarry, as strategic edits ensure visual interest is sustained across two channels, its depicted arduous movements emitting a drone despite the silent projection.

Video captures of Yang Fudong - On the Double Dragon Hills 二龙山上 (2014)

Undeniably the exhibition highlight, ‘The Fifth Night (II) Rehearsal’ shows the output of seven monitors connected to seven cameras shooting seven different scenes simultaneously. Muted characters pace about a movie set which backgrounds overlap, as the occasional dramatic event punctuates the night time silence. The obvious viewfinder and grainy images (a monitor fails towards the end) emphasise the “preview film” and the aphorism “真假流露”, two concepts mentioned by the artist in an insightful 2012 interview. Fudong’s deep knowledge of film-making, presents itself via the experimentation of technical aspects like lenses, angles, and tracking speed, as narrative becomes the reason, and not the basis, to advance camera motion. “What is reality?” In this case, a Malaysian art enthusiast sitting in a Singaporean gallery space watching Chinese produced artworks.

Video installation snapshots of Yang Fudong - The Fifth Night (II) Rehearsal 第五夜(第二版)巡回排演 (2010)

“…working on this new photo series, I was very aware of this language of aesthetics (…) the details in the photos are highly emphasized via sophisticated manipulation, but in the meanwhile, the objects themselves are very innocent. I am aware of the seduction of this language but I don’t think it’s a matter of seduction only, especially in today’s society where we are meant to be seduced every day at all times for the sake of economic growth. Consumption is based on desire and seduction creates it. But if we try to understand seduction as a general notion: it is something that relates to our survival instinct, it is a condition that is beyond judgement or integrity, it is natural thing to be seduced…”
– Xue Mu, excerpt of interview with Kris Dittel, “Instead of Going Against… Going Within”, 2014

Xue Mu - A Childish Nothingness / Marble Horses (2014)

Ombak @ Sasana Kijang + Shared Passion @ The Edge Galerie

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Collectors and artist collaborate to exhibit paintings across two galleries, as maintaining one’s market value is an apparent concern given the poor quality of Yusof Ghani’s new works. The “Ombak” series is a swirling mess, its expressive brushstrokes mistaken for an absent angst, as imagined emotions take the form of primary colour blends. White waves in a couple of “Batu Karang” pictures refer to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but fresh ideas for expressionist painting are otherwise swept away, in favour of decorating large interiors with visual drama. Ironically, one of the best work shown in Sasana Kijang, is nestled right outside the “Ombak” exhibition space. ‘Hiba 2’ touches a nerve with its cubist approach, its curved lines drawing a contained action that illustrates motion better than most of his later paintings.

Siri Tari - Hiba 2 (1984)

Although many local artists are labelled as Abstract Expressionist, not many imitate the movement’s forms like Yusof does, a characteristic attributed to the artist’s American training. The history of modern expressionism is traced in the harmonious colours of ‘Tari III’ (Kandinsky), “Topeng” which recalls Picasso’s Spanish bulls, and to the mystical scene in ‘Simpurai Muntigerai’ reminiscent of an early Pollock. Seemingly inspired by trips to Sarawak, references to Dayak mythologies are regrettably masked within the artist’s formal approach towards abstract painting. Like Latiff Mohidin and many others, commercial success led to the production of large works, where gestural brush strokes replace line and composition as the simplified expression of motion. It is easy to discern but hard to argue, the differences between Latiff’s “Rimba” and “Gelombang”, with Yusof’s “Hijau” and “Ombak” series.

Siri Wayang - Simpurai Muntigerai (1997)

“What is the origin of the face?” is an interesting question to ponder while looking at inscrutable countenances in the “Wajah” series. Powerful and visually striking pictures, such as the blinded giant in ‘Messenger’ and the protruding heads in “Agony of Acheh”, strike one as original expressions of despair, although the sculpted masks are no different than those done by Putu Sutawijaya. Pieces on sale at The Edge Galerie from the same series are potent, denoting Yusof’s mastery of white. With its focus on retinal pleasure, this exhibition is refreshing for its self-confessed non-connoisseurship. Most works contributed by the corporate figure have clear representational outlines, implying that abstraction remains unfavourable to the collector, notwithstanding the artist’s recognised style. Despite assertions of market value by the gallerist, buying what one likes, is the right policy for any responsible art collector.

Siri Wajah - Agony of Acheh III (2008)

Beauties @ National Portrait Gallery

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“…perfection emanates beyond the physical form and resonates strength in character”, reads the wall text for “Beauties”. Featuring the celebrated Hossein Enas and fellow members of Angkatan Pelukis Semenanjung, works from the national collection are exhibited alongside the “Malaysians” series of portraits commissioned by Shell Malaysia. These historical pictures depict a time when schoolchildren wore skirts above their knees and carried rattan-weave baskets, Singaporean women donned red headdresses, and full-bodied Malay stewardesses accompanied Caucasian pilots up in the air.

Hossein Enas - Timah (1962)

As with ‘Memetik Daun Tembakau di Kelantan’, Hossein’s oil paintings project an uncertain and sometimes crude technique, especially when juxtaposed with the smoothly-applied colours seen in the works of protégé Mazeli Mat Som. Hossein’s mastery in pastel, however, is undisputed in one gorgeous side portrait ‘Timah’, or in ‘Mandi Safar’ with its confident strokes of colour. The underrated Hamidah Suhaimi present the best works within this cosy exhibition space, where her illustrations imbue an irresistible elegance in its subjects. Two women in traditional dress come to life with the depiction of realistic flesh tones, yet it is their beautiful eyes that denote a strong character, which elevate drawn figures into physical beauties.

Hamidah Suhaimi - Kebaya (1970)

2 Jan 2015 (I): Trans Book Sketches @ NVAG

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Greeting the visitor are twenty rectangular frames, each with an object placed upon a dot matrix printout of Surah Al-'Alaq. Low-tech reproductions emphasise the Quranic verses’ inherent meaning instead of its form, the faint pages reminding of divine omnipresence when juxtaposed with disparate stuff like coins and cutlery. Nasir Baharuddin’s sublime work meditates upon the revelation of learned knowledge, and was hung up in early October 2014 for a “Book Art” exhibition. “Fotografi & Lakaran” occupy Galeri Reka, the output contributed by artists who joined field trips as part of the 1Malaysia Art Tourism campaign. Atmospheric captures of Gua Niah by Shahrizan Aziz and Nublee Bahar utilise creative shooting angles, while uninspiring panoramas of Labuan are further diminished by the gallery’s dim lighting. 

Installation snapshot and close-ups of Nasir Baharuddin - Baca dan Lihat (1995)

Upstairs, encased pamphlets by Tsai Horng Churng lead one into a narrow passage exhibiting other “Book Art”. Colourful sketches denote Khalil Ibrahim’s mastery in figure drawing, while Izan Tahir’s “London Walls” utilise a simple and effective aesthetic to present found words from the English capital. Termite-bitten pages from British schoolbooks project a rebellious gesture of erasing imperial power, Wong Hoy Cheong’s collage a mere stylistic statement if not for the accompanying guide describing the work’s context within the exhibition where it was first shown. Missed opportunities include objects with fascinating content displayed within Perspex boxes, including an undated Minangkabau manuscript, Nur Hanim Khairuddin’s talismanic “Grimoire” (unprotected from misspelled labels), and an attractive cut-out storybook by Chuah Shu Ruei. 

Nur Hanim Khairuddin (1997): Grimoire II [top]; Grimoire III [bottom]

Browsing 250 works spanning 50 years on the second floor, Choong Kam Kow’s prominent career in education has to be considered when viewing one-dimensional creations. Coloured walls present chronologically-arranged themes, a poor choice which accentuates few works at the expense of others. Beginning with Chinese ink tin mines and ending with decorative dragons and gongfu stances, Kam Kow’s oeuvre presents a non-intrusive archetype of the ideal Malaysian-Chinese, whose diplomatic approach appears outmoded among the political assertions typical in contemporary art. While his shaped canvases are a novelty and perhaps even introduced hard-edged abstraction into Malaysian art, the “SEA-Thru” constructs are terrible fixtures which Syed Ahmad Jamal is quoted as having described as “a slant on semantics”.

Installation snapshot of Choong Kam Kow's retrospective exhibition - The Shaped Canvas series

Contemporaries Chew Teng Beng and Joseph Tan come to mind when viewing the “Earthscape” and “Rockscape” series, Kam Kow’s aesthetically pleasing compositions less cerebral but equal in its meditation on natural beauty. The best works displayed were made before the art teacher’s return to Malaysia. Etchings and paintings from the “New York” series combine opaque shapes with abstract lines, its sand textures crafting a multi-layered take on ground. This showcase remains within the institute’s confines of modernism, yet “conceptual” self-expressions are making way for conceptual art-making exhibited in the floor below. With book-sized artworks slotted in between these spaces, hope is vested into the national gallery for the year ahead. The progressive aspiration comes crashing down, as another security guard scrutinise me, and my camera phone in hand. 

Choong Kam Kow - The Eroded Surface 12/12 (1967)

Making Space: We Are Where We Aren’t @ Sekeping Sin Chew Kee

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“Here space is everything, for time ceases to quicken memory. Memory – what a strange thing it is! – does not record concrete duration, in the Bergsonian sense of the word. We are unable to relive duration that has been destroyed. We can only think of it, in the line of an abstract time that is deprived of all thickness. The finest specimens of fossilized duration concretized as a result of long sojourn, are to be found in and through space. The unconscious abides. Memories are motionless, and the more securely they are fixed in space, the sounder they are. To localize a memory in time is merely a matter for the biographer and only corresponds to a sort of external history, for external use, to be communicated to others. But hermeneutics, which is more profound than biography, must determine the centers of fate by ridding history of its conjunctive temporal tissue, which has no action on our fates. For a knowledge of intimacy, localization in the spaces of our intimacy is more urgent than determination of dates.”
 - La Poétique de l'Espace, Gaston Bachelard (1958) [translated by M. Jolas, 1969], p.9

Installation view and video captures of Okui Lala – As If, Home (2014)

The Kuala Lumpur segment of Run and Learn– The Japan Foundation’s regional curator development program – engages the public with a simple yet effectve device. Curator Ong Jo-Lene transforms an artist’s problem – space – into a general concern for all human beings. Expanse is defned in visual terms, hence the spatial theme is a natural fit for a visual art exhbtion, notwithstandng its philosophcal enquiries. Centred on a derelct buildng-turned-guesthouse, works exhbited inside are often overshadowed by the open-plan archtecture, which interiors revel in natural light and upcycled stuff. Outsde, found stories at bus stops and a vertcal garden maskng a urinal engage an unsuspecting public, and the openng night party turned this old part of town into a happenng locale, "at least for one night".

KONTAK! – Peetilizer (2014)

Transparent walls and shuttered windows invite the neighbour’s roving eyes, as visitors peek into a delightfully mordant installation featuring love letters, traced drawings, and waxed hair. The non-private bedroom echoes Engku Iman’s works tinged with absurd yet acerbic humour, as the sound of a train rumble past, half the time courtesy of Goh Lee Kwang. More visible are the living quarters of the venue’s migrant neighbours, this view offering an effective juxtaposition to Okui Lala’s staged analogy about home. Bernice Chauly’s sentimental poems bedeck a double bed overlaid with tissue, each paper marked with words in quadrants by Daniel Chong. As one who thinks in threes, it is fascinating to see thoughts grouped in fours. The flimsy material used, is a perfect representation of what ideas are – take time to settle, hard to grasp, dilute when layered, and difficult to sustain.

Daniel Chong – The Limits of My Imagination (2015)

Making sense of “Making Space”, inspired by ‘The Limits of My Imagination’

Text accompanying Goh Lee Kwang – No Sound is Private (2015)

Why is sp__c__ regarded as a premium in the c__ty? Does it stem from an inn__r need to claim personal sp__c__? Will broadening one’s horizons mitigate th__s need? Does a capitalist mindset contribute to the v__lue attributed to physical sp__c__, or is it a feud__l legacy? Is privacy just a n__tion to exert p__w__r and restrain dissent? Is unseen sp__c__, sp__c__? Jo-Lene proposes three definitions in the exhibition foreword, “(s)pace is a means of production, an object of consumption, and a political instrument.” A reviewer suggests three sp__c__s, “…ruang penampakan, ruang representasi dan juga ruang penggunaan mampu dipersoalkan…” All questions and statements w__rth pondering about, in a privately-owned sp__c__ without much privacy, as I make a note to w__tch out for the Firecracker Crow the n__xt time I eat at Soong Kee.

Installation view of ‘Kissing Pig’ and location map for Zedeck Siew w/ Maung Day & Sharon Chin – Local Fauna (2014)

“Naturally, the problems of causality of smallness have been analyzed by sensory psychology. In a perfectly positive way, the psychologist carefully determines the different thresholds at which the various sense organs go into action. These thresholds may differ with different persons, but there is no contesting their reality. In fact, the idea of threshold is one of the most clearly objective ideas in modem psychology.” [p.174]
“Even figuratively, nothing that concerns intimacy can be shut in, nor is it possible to fit into one another, for purposes of designating depth, impressions that continue to surge up.” [p.220]
- The Poetics of Space (La Poétique de l'Espace), Gaston Bachelard (1958)

Installation snapshots of Engku Iman – Aku Keturunanmu Perempuan (2015)

“Outside and inside form a dialectic of division, the obvious geometry of which blinds us as soon as we bring it into play in metaphorical domains. It has the sharpness of the dialectics of yes and no, which decides everything. Unless one is careful, it is made into a basis of images that govern all thoughts of positive and negative. Logicians draw circles that overlap or exclude each other, and all their rules immediately become clear. Philosophers, when confronted with outside and inside, think in terms of being and non-being. Thus profound metaphysics is rooted in an implicit geometry which – whether we will or no – confers spatiality upon thought; if a metaphysician could not draw, what would he think? Open and closed, for him, are thoughts. They are metaphors that he attaches to everything, even to his systems.”
- The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard (1958) [translated by M. Jolas, 1969], p.211

[On floor] Test print of Jeffrey Lim – Door Left, Door Right (2015) in Sekeping Sin Chew Kee

Into Outside (I/O) @ 無限發掘 FINDARS

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“Of course there is inside, otherwise there wouldn't be outside. You are inside, now come out!”, reads the hilarious first line of the exhibition brief. Greeting the visitor is Ayesha Keshani’s presentation, the collection of photographs, dying plants, and paraphernalia obscure but attractive. It also foreshadows the artist’s intent to highlight historical examples, of humans imposing power via the systematic obliteration of nature. A grainy video of animals being hunted is partially shrouded in foliage, leading to four-word slogans that point to the misconception of ecology-friendly plantations, and a Maoist farce that resulted in many lost lives.

Installation snapshot

Goh Lee Kwang’s ‘photocopying recording’ is nestled within a gunnysack tent, its double projection of ambient sound a secondary concern when one lies down on a concrete floor with straw mat. Potted greenery and makeshift platforms impress colour and cosiness into the Spartan space, a contrast to the monochrome pictures and sans serif wall texts. The simple arrangement allows a pleasant walkabout, although the bite-sized information provided only incites an impulsive political response. Of course there are animals, otherwise there wouldn’t be humans. You are an animal, now be a human!

Installation and snapshots from 'What is The Animal?' booklet

"When the cocks were all dead, the people wanted some other sport, so they brought a man who could stay under water for a long time, and DogDog made him compete with the alligator. But after a while the man had to come up first. Then they brought a swift runner and he raced with the deer, but the man was left far behind. Next they looked around until they found a very large man who was willing to contend with the mound of earth, but after a hard struggle the man was thrown. Finally they brought a man who could climb higher than anyone else, but the monkey went far above him, and he had to give up."
- Radical 94, Vol. 1, Bukit Binatang, anecdote #19

Installation snapshot

HOLES Perspective @ Atelier Art Space

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Coinciding with the launch of a pothole-reporting mobile application by the Petaling Jaya city council, this exhibition plays upon the common gripe of Malaysian road users, and applies a sometimes-effective metaphor to urban and national concerns. Photographs take the form of post-internet images, although its crude manipulation denote an amateurish execution. In ‘New Technique?’, a giant plaster is crafted to emphasize the analogy, the exaggerated object posing a visually potent motif that can be used for anything from graffiti to statement posters to advertising. The state of the nation is represented as a punctured race track, while more immediate concerns like golf diplomacy and water shortages, are doctored into photographs.

New Technique? (2015)

Reference to local colloquialisms are pretentious with the exception being ‘Grandfather’s road’, its chalk drawing imbuing a comic element to a favourite rant, frequently blurted on the relatively less holey Jalan Tun Razak. ‘Fair race?’ depicts the advantage of being a snail over a racing car, the picture more useful to the viewer who exercises humility in reading the political inference. Showcasing a map where the potholes were found, You Sef could do well to report these existing evidence via the CleanMyCity app. Maintaining a structurally flawed infrastructure is unsustainable, which leads to the question, do we need such infrastructure in the first place?

Grandfather's road (2015)

2 Jan 2015 (II): Recent Acquisitions @ NVAG

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Akin to an apologetic gesture, works last seen at the dismal M50 exhibition greet the visitor into Galeri 1A, Gan Sze Hooi’s map leading to Yee I-Lan’s pinafores and plates. The recreated chessboard-floor studio space demonstrates a seriousness in institutional collecting, an observation reinforced by the variety of mediums on show. Accolades are a useful starting point to add new artists into the national collection, as one spots panoramic photographs by Yaman Ibrahim (Maybank Photo Awards), a hanging wood sculpture by Sun Kang Jye (Malaysia Emerging Artist Award), a minimal but powerful audio-visual installation by Fuad Arif (Bakat Muda Sezaman), woven fabric patterns by Anne Samat (Prudential Malaysian Eye), and a matrix of light switches by chi too (Young Guns), not connected to an electrical board which unfortunately negates the work’s impact.

Installation view of Yee I-Lann - Malaysia Day Commemorative Plates (ed. 1/100) (2010) [foreground]; Commemorate 2013 (2013) [background] [picture from OUR ArtProjects Facebook post]

Wall texts amusingly segregate exhibiting artists into senior/mid-career/young groupings, also inviting visitors “…to analyse, assess and interpret the importance of the works acquired by NVAG and the significance of its collection in the context of contemporary experience.” Important but surprisingly missing from the collection previously is H.H. Lim, whose illustrated tiger is hung low and hopefully leads to the addition of more cerebral works. Also achieving international acclaim before local recognition is Tan Wei Kheng, his Bornean tribal portrait a poignant reminder about the replacement of cultures that take place in a developing nation. Well-travelled Roslisham Ismail compacts his curriculum vitae within a room, complete with Superfiction sketches and recipe books, although one Secret Affair refrigerator is shut tight with an oversized sticker.

Sun Kang Jye - (Minister) of Portrait Series (2011) [picture from MEA Award blog post]

Ise’s funky setup prompts a complex reading about packaging contexts, also leading one to ponder about the gallery’s acquisition strategy. How much weight do accolades and exposure carry in buying decisions? Who needs more Penang watercolours? Are the large paintings by young artists Fadilah Karim and Seah Zelin their exceptional pieces among recent output, or stockroom leftover? How much money was transacted for Tan Tong’s two works? Did Daud Rahim contribute anything significant to local painting? Jars of earth by Bibi Chew and paper cut-outs by Haslin Ismail make equally captivating installations; but the national gallery already owns a 2010 Haslin work of the same scale, so why add another one? With a number of exhibited works last seen in Galeri Chandan, how much do gallerists and the market influence what is acquired?

Samsudin Wahab - Katak Lembu Segar (2013) [picture from BakatMudasezaman YoungContemporaries Facebook page]

With a federal government ruling without the popular vote, Malaysian politics is definitely a “contemporary experience”, yet very few exhibited works touch upon this topic. One exception is ‘Katak Lembu Segar’ by Samsudin Wahab, the mutated carcasses expressing a violent desire to give village idiots/stupid politicians a literal dressing down. The fibreglass sculpture is seen as a follow on to Juhari Said’s ‘Katak Nak Jadi Lembu’, its reference to local art history less common in Malaysian art. Looking at works by Yap Sau Bin and Shia Yih Yiing – both deriving its content from seminal artworks – are meta-references too simplistic an acquisition criteria? One recalls the more incisive and better composed “The More We Get Together”, hung like a tetromino at Yih Yiing’s previous solo exhibition. Who decided that “Homage Couture” was the more appropriate purchase?

Raja Lope Rasyidi - Jentayu dan Kuda Kepang (2013) [picture from Core Design Gallery website]

Queries about managing public property aside, the diversity on show and strength of individual pieces, deserve applaud and a moment’s basking in Malaysian pride. One fascinating ‘Cocoon’ photograph by Sue Anna Joe hangs opposite Mansoor Ibrahim’s intricate printed insects, both works revealing life with a different aesthetic approach. Rafiee Ghani’s bold colours project an uplifting view into the joy of observing new frontiers. Local folklore and figurative dance receive the airbrush treatment from Raja Lope Rasyidi, whose mecha presentation transcends the local canon and fully deserves its institutional validation. Walking past beautiful red constructs, Kamal Sabran and Goh Lee Kwang’s ‘Bunyian dari Batu Gajah’ gets surprising airtime, the improvisational dissonance a more agreeable sound, as compared to calls of “no photos” by the gallery guards.

Sneak preview of Kamal Sabran and Goh Lee Kwang - Bunyian Aneh Dari Batu Gajah (2013)

Being Human @ White Box

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Despite the significant calibre of exhibiting artists, it is difficult to take huge paintings of human beings seriously, especially when the catalogue essay takes one pop-rock song as a reference point. For many working with the same motifs, the oversized portraits only panders to friendly collectors – one can imagine Kow Leong Kiang drawing the larger-than-life Ahmad Zakii Anwar holding a revolver, as an inside joke. Chong Siew Ying’s idyllic couple is meant to hang above a holiday villa settee, while the moody avatar by Zakii and Arif Fauzan’s hesitant women suit house owners looking for less cheery but more atmospheric pictures. Less discerning folks may opt for yet another heroic gesture by Bayu Utomo Radjikin, or the crude and awkwardly executed nude by Chong Ai Lei.

Shia Yih Yiing (2014) -
MISS NATURE
under SCORE
_ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _

Representing the Fklub collective, Bayu talks about obscured countenance in an interview, “(…) while faces easily give up their tales, the body speaks in a different language”, but the true subject matter here is scale. Referencing a popular theme from artists past, Fadilah Karim’s ‘The Lonesome Painter’ depicts her small figure curled up on a chair in the painting’s centre, its composition circumventing the need to enlarge the body, as surrounding easels are captured from a straightforward angle. More adventurous is Gan Chin Lee, who chooses a more difficult perspective to illustrate two sisters, the foreshortening of the figure done well but less so for the bed frame. One revelation is how nostalgic pictures fail when scale is amplified, as seen in the lacklustre fish-eye views presented by Chin Kong Yee, and in Cheong Tuck Wai’s peeling texture on a giant boy’s face.

Gan Chin Lee - Self and other (2014) [picture from 速寫本子 web log]

Despite its grandiose display at Singapore Art Stage, Marvin Chan’s crucifix creation gets the white wall treatment in the Malaysian show, his self-censorship contributing to the ongoing narrative about figuration within local art history. The best works project contemporary concerns, from Hisyamuddin Abdullah’s surprisingly appealing ‘DramaKing’, to one bleak painting with bleached animals by Shia Yih Yiing, to the framed mind maps of Phuan Thai Meng’s students. Recent aeroplane tragedies imbue “So Close yet So Far” by Chan Kok Hooi with an unintentional sense of longing, neutralising perversion with introspection. The realisation here is not that large figurative depictions are outmoded; rather, it is the capitalist mode of art trading that renders such artful statement-making individual property, which is the issue at hand.

Installation snapshot of Marvin Chan - Desecration of the Temple (2014) [painting at Marvin Chan's tumblr]

Maestro @ Galeri Petronas

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Corporate and private galleries join hands to promote one’s collected prints, while the other aims to draw in the crowds under its new Art for Everyone tagline, hashtags included. Significant Spanish artists are featured together with Western canon greats, while printmaking objects display insincere attempts at a museum-grade showing. Édouard Manet’s etched portrait of Edgar Allan Poe poses a wonderful greeting; Odilon Redon keeps the visitor refreshed midway through one’s visit, with a Symbolist depiction of the goddess Cybele as inspired by Gustave Flaubert. Flat graphics and optical art decorate the walls in between, with occasional showstoppers like Édouard Vuillard’s brilliant composition of an interior fireplace, and Sol Lewitt’s methodically random lines in a circle. 

Odilon Redon - Temptation of Saint Anthony (1896)

Despite the heavy name-dropping, viewing prints by renowned artists do not help anyone in appreciating Western art movements. Impressionistic illustrations by Camille Pissarro fail to come to life without colour. Sketches from the Blue period and a dubious 1950 etching, do not represent Pablo Picasso at his best. Middling mid-career drawings by Eugène Delacroix and Henri Matisse reveal little, while late works by Giorgio de Chirico and Andy Warhol contain signature traits but a lesser creativity relative to their significant output. Jackson Pollock’s pens and Jasper John’s limited edition book are curious collectibles, as banal an artefact as Damien Hirst’s ‘Pharmacy’. 

Édouard Vuillard - L'Atre (1899) [from Paysages et intérieurs]

With works by 76 artists on display, simplistic associations make up what one finds attractive. Corrugated cardboard creations by Andrés Nagel and Aramis Ney impress with its manipulation of medium. Hans Hartung and Antoni Tàpies offer powerful abstractions – the former via scratched lines, the latter through footprint traces. Edvard Munch’s overhyped expressionism springs to mind while appreciating Bengt Lindström’s striking paintings. Eduardo Arroyo’s incisive cartoon mocks dictatorship, while vicious designs by Oswaldo Guayasamín also present political opposition. Dense pictures by Asger Jorn (pre-COBRA) and Roberto Matta (post-Pinochet) are a delight to take in upon establishing context, by linking the year these works were made within a historical timeline.

Oswaldo Guayasamín - Máscara 2 (1973)

Jaume Plensa contributes my favourite works in this exhibition, whose two eccentric pieces hang faraway from each other. The first is a hand-less clock embedded into an enlarged description of the “yellow race (Chinese)”, the second a horoscopic map where “Art” is the centre of the universe... Under its seemingly democratic new ethos, the gallery retains is authoritarian sheen by admitting paternalistic and capitalist values. In an interview with The Edge, curator Badrolhisham Mohamad Tahir says, “(c)ensorship of the arts is a sad reality, and we have to make sure nothing explicit is displayed” (…) “Art isn’t a project or a secondary subject, however; it is a recognized economic sector and should really be approached without prejudice.” Tell that to the bored policemen standing about.  

Jaume Plensa - [l] Interiors III (1992); [r] Untitled (1996)

Contemporary Propulsion – Influence and Evolution @ G13

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Repressed desire in Loh Bok Lai’s pair of women aside, Dasein graduates present humdrum paintings – personal metaphors and visual effects lack intellectual depth, while Hoo Kiew Hang’s ambitious take on Pop Art borders on irrelevance in this age of social media. Abstract forms by Kim Ng and Yim Yen Sum fare better, as one imagines Muji Lee’s corkboard constructs to be more impressive at a larger scale. Krystie Ng’s sewn fabric are clever and representative depictions, the tactile features of thread and pulled cloth reinforcing the sustained tension of women-related issues. Lilliputian figures on isolated islands stuck upon the gallery’s white walls, however, draws my attention back to the exhibition’s best works. Commenting on materialism via found objects is a common idea in contemporary art, yet Tiong Chai Heing’s latest output communicates something deeper.

Krystie Ng (A Collaboration with the Artist's Mother) - Love and Hurt – Unsung Sentiments (2013-2015)

Last seen at “1 CARES • 關懷!”, the barren landscape is now presented as fragments, where humans wander about in decaying islands. These minuscule creations are akin to temple murals illustrating mythical worlds, but Chai Heing’s version of purgatory conveys the pain of desolation, a fear that religious hells seldom describe. Rags that make up her older creations are less visible in ‘Small World’, which materials dissolve into something beautiful, projecting a sensory pleasure that mitigates the misery of living in this sordid state. Also displayed are very attractive hung works based on photographs, ‘Drowning’ an example of the artist’s exceptional technical skill, at creating visually captivating images despite not utilising found objects. As religion continues to isolate Malaysians from each other, I take a respite by inspecting the installation’s details, again and again.

Installation view and close-ups of Tiong Chai Heing - Small World (2015)

Ivan Lam: Twenty @ Wei-Ling Contemporary

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Threading a slippery path on the top floor, to view Ivan Lam’s sleek new creations under fluorescent lights, feels like experiencing the beginning of the end. Large eye-catching fare devoid of politics cater perfectly for the international art market, a place the gallery is focusing its attention on. The opening of this new space is accompanied by a hastily put-together survey, where works made before the artist’s gallery representation, are cramped into one fifth of the total floor area. Walking past glossy canvases, toy transportation, sans serif alphabets & numbers, a notorious vending machine, and equivocal artwork titles, a sense of fictitious materiality permeates the space. As Gina Fairley questions in her 2009 essay, “…has reality been thwarted by (Ivan) Lam’s hyper-saturated palette, fractured brushstrokes and ‘unreal’ perspective?”

The Day the Devil Cried (2003)

Such catalogue essays help propagate the view of one masterful printmaker turned virtuoso painter, a thinking artist well versed in art history, never settling in his creative output yet commercially successful. The works on display in this survey, however, fail to support these claims. Absent are the prize winners and auctioned lots, as references to Jasper Johns’ targets and enlarged pop imagery, indicate a desire to only recreate existing forms on flat surfaces. Large paintings culled from a handful of private collectors hardly signify critical value, especially for an artist featured often in lifestyle magazines. Personal narratives evolve into panoramic diptychs; as the opaqueness increases with the thickness of resin on Ivan’s canvas, one is reminded of the artist’s steady rise to fame which aligns with Wei-Ling’s prominence as gallerist.

Flower (You never forget my birthdays) (2005)

Angles, shapes, and layers, are picture-making concerns on two-dimensional space, but it is Ivan’s exploration of colour which leaves the deepest impression. References to Piet Mondrian and Edward Ruscha, observed in ‘The Day the Devil Cried’ and ‘Firestarter’ respectively, show accomplished attempts at mimicking styles. Inkjet printing is emulated in “Seasons”, dot-matrix recreations which allude to the conventional technology behind digital reproductions. Tracing the blocks of colour in ‘Flower (You never forget my birthdays)’, to the Pointillist-like dots and crosses in ‘Target and Deer - You Are Being Missed, Dear’, to the bold primary hues in ‘Train’, the artist successfully presents the irresistible appeal of flatly-applied colours. Swatches of house paint highlight Ivan’s palette – or what he terms “natural colour system charts” – in one gratitude piece for the sponsor of his medium.

The machine that walks this earth (2009)

Works from “Panorama” – in particular ‘The machine that walks this earth’ – strike me as the best among exhibits. Anurendra Jegadeva states in the exhibition catalogue, “(t)hese scenarios that seem mundane but are so salient because of that very ordinariness are executed with obsessive deliberation. Lam’s panoramas are deliberately frank paintings with no startling revelations, an art of technical prowess, intricate composition, brilliantly tactile surfaces and an undercurrent of social comment.” As the most realistic renderings within his oeuvre, an impossible angle in human perception also makes “Panorama” the most incisive. Drawing real life is an impracticable act and presented as such, where titles infer situational reflections that are vague upon recall, akin to the everyday human experience of modern life. 

The Blue Machine (2012)

Ivan's works can be seen as pandering to the international art market via his ambiguous visual cues. Amanda Rath writes, “…Lam appropriates and empties images in such a way that his work can read as knowingly bypassing or going beyond certain thorny positions and (dominant) discourses. They belong to everyone and no one.” His sleek and precise output also contrast with mainstream Malaysian art, where handicraft, statement making, and nostalgia, are the norm. Describing himself in an interview, “(a)t times I feel like a machine making the work (…) At times I’m painting the machine in me.” This mechanical and apolitical approach fits into what art critic Blake Gopnik dubs as “aesthetic agnosia”. Representative of capitalist pursuits and surface judgements of the general human population, Ivan’s works are perhaps, more real and on point than I will ever admit. 

Nippon (2014)

Like Someone In Love @ Lostgens'

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Moving on from an intuitive art-making approach to a rigorous execution of formal theory, chi too maintains his signature trait of sentimentalism, through the choice of medium and titles. Bubble wrap is commonly used to protect valuables like paintings, but in switching the utility of objects, a transformation of value is achieved. The nondescript plastic grid is utilised but its air pockets - the purpose of the item's manufacture - is punctured and filled with acrylic paint. Composition and narrative are forsaken in favour of illustrating theory, the chromatic designs made with reference to Josef Albers'Interaction of Colour. The contrary applies to pricing, which now becomes a quantitative assessment instead of a qualitative one, quoted at seventy cents per paint-filled air pocket.

Like Someone In Love #10 (2014)

Inconsistent fillings in the dots when viewed up close, presume a standard volume of injected paint, and are likely caused by the different chemical make up in paints of differing hues. This mechanical process - along with its deficiencies - seems to fulfil intrinsic needs, of an artist whose output is typically reactive, or requires reaction. Despite its unassuming visuals, this exhibition presents intelligent creations, which diverging approach may prove invaluable in chi too's artistic growth. The transformation of value is made more apparent in an unexpected event, when two works were damaged; something used to protect fragile items is now rendered fragile (do the artworks now cost less?). Harder to keep than paintings, the bubble wrap can now resume its original intended function as three-dimensional wallpaper. Pop Art, anyone?

Close-up captures from "Like Someone In Love"

Ayat-ayat Semesta @ University of Malaya Art Gallery

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Melukis itu Menulis - this wonderful maxim is a subject in one of Abdul Djalil Pirous's writings, and aptly describes the works displayed here. A doyen in the Bandung art scene, Pirous is also known as the pioneer in Southeast Asia who successfully melded Western abstract painting with Arabic calligraphy. Texts are moulded from marble paste and swathes of colours are accentuated with gold leaf, the combined presentation depicting Quranic verses as encased meditations mirroring inner reflections. Utilising strips of colour at its borders, two-dimensional compositions stretch beyond the canvas to encompass a wider universe, which Sulaiman Esa once described with reference to Islamic metaphysics as "...an open book, a panorama of signs (ayat) and symbols that man is constantly exhorted to study and contemplate so that he can gain the knowledge of higher Truth."

Kurnia-Nya yang Mana yang Masih Kau Dustakan? (1974)

The emotional qualities of colour field painting are more evident in exhibited works made in the 1970s to the 1990s, As one who does not read Arabic, I resort to engage with the shocking pink-purple in 'Kurnia-Nya yang Mana yang Masih Kau Dustakan?', the earthy browns, and the golden ruptures in 'Cucuku, Dia Lahir di Negeri Sakura'. Calligraphic writings are replaced with capitalised texts in works made in 2004 and later, this change of approach attributed by Kenneth George as a reaction by the artist to the Aceh tsunami, which struck Pirous' hometown and claimed the lives of many relatives. 'Apa Namamu?' and 'Mencari Air Suci I' are poignant examples of works produced during this time, where introspective statements are submerged at the lower-left corner of the painting, a gold strip separating it from a dark blue background.

Jangan Baurkan Kebenaran dengan Kebathilan! (2012)

Describing a painting that resembles a tombstone protruding from the clouds, curator Agung Hujatnikajennong states, "(m)eskipun tidak bermaksud merepresentasikan objek-objek arsitektural itu secara sangat spesifik, Pirous hendak menekankan kehadiran dimensi 'ruang' yang ilusif dan mistis, dan pada saat yang sama: absennya ruang-ruang spatial yang riil dan logis." The artist remarks in an interview, "(a)ntara aksara dan latar belakang lukisan menyatu." This conscious decision to make good art and not vacant proclamations, is a vital aspect in Pirous' works, and this survey leaves enough room to ponder whether such exhibits constitute Contemporary Islamic Art. Well lit with ample wall notes, and accompanied with a decent catalogue with three insightful essays, one eagerly waits for the next edition of the university gallery's "Asian Master Series".

Mencari Air Suci I (2005)

Tuhan, kita begitu dekat
Sebagai api dengan panas; Aku panas dalam api-Mu
Tuhan, kita begitu dekat
Seperti kain dengan kapas; Aku kapas dalam kain-Mu
Tuhan, kita begitu dekat
Seperti angin dan arahnya; Kita begitu dekat
Dalam gelap; Kini aku nyala; Dalam lampu padam-Mu
- Tuhan, Kita Begitu Dekat, Abdul Hadi WM, sajak accompanying artwork by A.D. Pirous of the same title

Tuhan, Kita Begitu Dekat (2002)

Picturing Change @ White Box

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Despite good intentions to educate the public about visual culture, a dearth of visually attractive exhibits render this show a wordy affair, notwithstanding its concise wall notes. The wide time gap between seven posters from the National Archives, to Liew Kung Yu's majestic 2009 artwork, contribute to a lacklustre presentation. Sourcing difficulties aside, this incoherence can be attributed to the wide range of mediums on show, and its "one exhibit per medium" approach. Artful interventions include one clay tapir and a Photoshop-ed lightbox, while social awareness campaigns take the form of overhead photographs, typographic posters, and protest banners.

Jaguh/Pendatang (2014)

Highlighting an advertising agency's online video about racism, and its merchandise-based flood relief efforts, promotes the lofty notion about high-minded corporates. Old posters are interesting to the modern viewer for its message but not its style, while 1Malaysia products demonstrate the failure of traditional propaganda design in a contemporary social media landscape. Indicative of how power impedes creativity, unsanctioned graphic works project the strongest visual interest. Pangrok Sulap's grand green banner feature their own prints held up as demonstration placards, while depictions of Lee Chong Wei as hero/immigrant is provocative street art at its best.

[top] Liew Kung Yu - Pantai Gelora Cahaya (2009); [botom] 'Guide' to the artwork (picture from mapkl's Facebook page]

Mind-boggling at first sight, the five-panel 'Pantai Gelora Cahaya' by Kung Yu mesmerises upon reflection. With its visually arresting scale, multilayered cut-outs, and lowbrow sensibilities, photographs of kitschy constructs are put together and held up like a mirror to the astonished viewer. Are these real places? Would I not take a picture of it? What is wrong if such objects attract people to it? Why visit a place, any place? Is that Istana Budaya? An impossible number of perspectives from each individual photograph, are inserted into an inwardly slanting composition, its overall garishness accentuating the sense of make believe. Described as "...simultaneously glorify as they critique", the neutrality in Kung Yu's work, marks it as the odd one out in an exhibition about art & advocacy.

Pangrok Sulap - Selamatkan Hari Merdeka (2013)

HOW TO live your life according to someone else @ Kedai

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Curator Izat Arif stages another astoundingly coherent show, where the exhibition theme is bespoke in the works of three artists, and extends to the storefront / window display approach. Greeting the visitor at the left is a long neck pot on a pedestal, and at right, a table with four human legs and one brain-y teapot. Lily Osman’s confectionary creation is literally gut-wrenching, yet delightfully absurd. One can imagine the hilarity, when ants swarm and devour the few pieces of chopped liver served on its tiered cake stand. Viscera is neutralised via the surrounding white sculptures of Naz Imagine, its seductive lines taking after slacking postures.

Lily Osman - The Red Dinner (2015)

Assuming the role of artefact, pottery is paired up and propped against these constructs, to juxtapose traditional and modern notions of beauty in sculpture. An obsession with art manifests in the presented poses and its titles, evident in the kneeling reverence towards ‘What would I do without you (7525624’s)’, and the frustrated slouch in ‘I give up’. ‘The Radical’ apes the position of sitting on a toilet bowl, its centre stripped bare to expose the underlying wooden frame. Metaphorical interpretations vary widely from farcical contemplation, to sculpture’s progression from form to process and back. It is perhaps also a reverential ode to Marcel Duchamp, someone the artist referenced for his final year project. 

Installation snapshots of Naz Imagine (2015) [from l to r]: I give up; What would I do without you (7525624’s); The Radical  

Izat’s cheeky catalogue essay Leave a comment aptly describes the banal and garish works by Leo Ari, whose restyled YouTube playlist is projected onto a couple of mannequins. Celebrating the banal and grotesque nature of streaming online content, Leo’s choice of videos is unbalanced in its deference to shock value, and ultimately no different from his sources. In responding to the explicit theme, artists demonstrate their sensitive approaches towards individual environments and patriarchal hierarchies. Identity issues dissolve into personal preoccupations and virtual independence, as individuality becomes the only strategy, for living in this capitalist world.  

Installation snapshots of Leo Ari - Daud dan Zuhrah #tilljannah (2015)

Pulse: Q1 2015 Art Auctions

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Residents flock supermarkets for sanitary pads and toilet rolls. Customs and police officers scurry about trying to follow orders. Book stores make last minute changes to their accounting software. Auction houses flood the secondary market with unknown artists and insignificant works. All part of the mad rush before the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in Malaysia. Wants are mistaken for needs, or pathetically marketed as such, as auction houses collectively forget its roles as players in the luxury goods market. Four out of five auctions were held in Kuala Lumpur over a span of three weekends, where middling sales and a general down trend expose local auctions for what they are – an exercise in financial speculation.

John Lee Joo For - Untitled (1966)

Paintings by Tajuddin Ismail, Awang Damit, and Yusof Ghani, continue to trade favourably, while works by everyone else hardly generate interest. Masterpiece Malaysia sells three pieces by Tay Mo Leong, last transacted in its 2013 edition for higher prices. A suspicious new Zulkifli Yusoff was hammered down, for three times its high estimates at the KL Lifestyle Art Space (March) edition. Henry Butcher offers a lesser collection of goods, perhaps a consequence of being associated with an art theft report last year. The prevailing bearish sentiment sets the scene for collectors to grab works for prices below market value, including for top-tier names like Latiff Mohidin, Chang Fee Ming, and Ahmad Zakii Anwar. However, those not yet at the top fare less well, as great introspective works by Chong Siew Ying and Kok Yew Puah were bought in.  

Chong Siew Ying - Untitled (2001)

Despite presenting the best holdings among auction houses, and only charging a 10% buyer’s premium, The Edge Auction unperformed again with a 57% sales ratio. A sign that its transactions are probably the most transparent, its straightforward line up also deserves applaud for not attempting to bamboozle. Artists surveyed at the National Visual Arts Gallery in recent times saw mixed success, as large works by Ali Mabuha and Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir were bought in, while its support of Ken Yang backfired when no works by the Paris-based painter sold. 'Four Women on the Beach' went for more than twice its highest estimate, the Cubist-like work by Lee Cheng Yong highlighting this ridiculous season which sees his auction star rise significantly. One wonders - how will GST impact art auction prices indeed?

Zulkifli Yusoff - Ku Pinang Puteri Gunung Ledang (1994)

An Art Economy Conference was held also at Kuala Lumpur in March, its keynote speaker relating state revenue generated by art, to the number of tourists (i.e. museum visitors). This ridiculous notion is supported by our Deputy Prime Minister, who claimed that RM 33 billion of Malaysia's GDP was contributed by the "creative industry", mentioning too that the government granted RM 17 million (a fraction of what Jho Low paid for a Jean-Michel Basquiat at Christie's) over the pass three years to arts-related programs. Who in the visual arts received a portion of this grant? Why did a local gallerist organise this conference? How ethical are consultants that advise private collectors to "buy what they like", while helping governments quantify the Return of Investment for the arts? Can imprudent bureaucrats stop associating art with profit? Or tourism, for that matter?

Kok Yew Puah - Temple Figures (1997)

M13 @ Richard Koh Fine Art

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Aged pillars made from plastic bowls and white frames fabricated with powder coated steel, greet the visitor into Haffendi Anuar’s imagined cityscape, where buildings are reduced into a cluster of attractive objects. Line and colour join into symmetrical shapes, as deliberate shadows and smooth gradients render optical illusion. The catalogue essay tells the tale of one Malaysian who spent significant time overseas, now back in Kuala Lumpur as a foreign observer of mundane things. Despite being different in form from his previous works, the layering, use of colour, and everyday objects as art-making material, remain consistent within Haffendi’s oeuvre. 

Installation view [picture taken from Richard Koh Fine Art's website]

“I like the genericness of our reality,” the artist states in a media interview. Perpetuating a standard approach and evading the Malaysian art context, are the unique propositions in this exhibition. Its title M13 refers to an apartment block number – but also points to the 13 Malaysian states, GE13, or even riots in 1969 – numbers and events that lie within the Malaysian subconscious. Like the Mega City in The Matrix, hyperreal depictions of a locale represent the contemporary tableau within a generic landscape. Haffendi’s window grills straddle abstract categories, its overall flatness a parody of Malaysian art in many ways. As architectural design à la Sabri Idrus, the lack of texture nullifies any crafted intent. 

Grill Work 7 (2015)

As abstraction, the geometric symmetry of industrial objects betray any links to Islamic art, or personal expression. Nostalgia is manufactured via a repetitive expediting process, instead of painting effects. Smooth fading hues denote relevance in a digital age, as our eyes become accustomed to flat surfaces. Surrounded by ostentatious colours and unbearably apolitical objects, I discover the invisible master stroke while descending the escalator. The enigma of Haffendi's neutral representations – an apparent departure from most Malaysian art – is debunked in one triumphant nihilistic gesture. This make-believe city is deconstructed into individual packages, each sold fragment signalling the fate of art, as it meets its capitalist end. 

Installation view [picture taken from Haffendi Anuar's website]

“The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.”
- Morpheus, The Matrix (1999)

Installation view - [from l to r] (2015) BLCK A3; BLCK A2; BLCK A6; BLCK A7
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