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The Flower @ Wei-Ling Gallery
What perhaps started out as a casual experiment, has evolved into something thoroughly engrossing. The fisheye lens effect is an obvious characteristic in Chin Kong Yee’s paintings, and its curvilinear...
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馳續徑行 Madline 2.0 @ Lostgens'
The journey continues for Eddie Choo Wen Yi, now studying at Taipei National University of the Arts, as she records the island round trip 环岛 utilising her “Madline” apparatus on a motorcycle. Long haul...
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Haremeyn @ NVAG
What makes a holy site, holy? Looking at digital prints of 130-years old photographs taken at Makka al-Mukarrama and al-Madina al-Munawwara, it is difficult to reach a visual conclusion. As described...
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Totem @ Alliance Française de Kuala Lumpur
“Clothing, in (Gaëtan Gatian de) Clérambault’s world, is considered a costume in the sense of a disguise, much in the same way as in folk traditions. (Diana Lui) transcends that exotic aspect staged by...
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DUOA: Eternal Duties @ HOM Art Trans
Two lecturers set themselves apart from their students, by utilising unconventional mediums whilst retaining an attractive aesthetic value, although such gestures may not be enough to trigger...
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Snippets: Q3 2015
Famous for his nude figures, or just its outlines, Khalil Ibrahim has sustained a long career as a full-time artist with his figurative paintings. In the retrospective at the relocated KL Lifestyle Art...
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The French ConneXion @ NVAG (I)
Judging from its tacky title, it is easy to dismiss this exhibition as another blasé attempt by the local institution to promote a diplomatic agenda. To my surprise, it turned out better than expected....
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The French ConneXion @ NVAG (II)
...In contrast with Georgette’s luscious paintings, Lai Foong Moi’s works lack the former’s decorative flourish. Adhering to traditional composition conventions, landscapes such as ‘Menuai Padi’ have a...
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Be Careful or You May Become The Centre @ Wei-Ling Contemporary
A giant stick figure disposing off its head, greets the visitor into Chong Kim Chiew’s solo exhibition, where some works are attributed to the artist’s avatars. As if needing a punchline to pull...
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Symphony of Unity @ Sasana Kijang
As Malaysians demonstrated unity by thronging the streets donned in yellow, many whom took the opportunity to “re-discover” the streets of Kuala Lumpur, it is a pity they did not venture out to Sasana...
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person(a) @ Black Box
"The persona is a complicated system of relations between individual consciousness and society, fittingly enough a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and,...
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KataKatha Session with Artists @ KuAsh Theatre
One audience member – likely an international school student – asked (paraphrased by this author), “if visual art is used to communicate something that one finds difficult to express in words, how do...
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The Enduring Heart in Nanyang Ink Painting @ NVAG
Ooi Kok Chuen once described Sylvia Lee Goh’s paintings as “…a world unto its own; a snug, safe space filled with fond memories and her favourite things;” At this retrospective, her works emit a...
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Circle Jerks @ Minut Init Art Social
skrej51: hi a/s/l?elcric02: tbh idk jkskrej51: wtf yolo lmao ur ig potd is da best 2moro yumcha?elcric02: gtg my bff wants 2 go uptown 4 some art exh lolsskrej51: haha bojio art ftw (l)mirl? I...
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TransActions in the Field: Archive Exhibition @ Lostgens’
Transaction is a poor substitute word for exchange, given its materialistic insinuations. Yet material documentation remains the primary source and evidence, that activities were done, knowledge was...
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Picturing the Nation @ ILHAM
“By comparing APS (Angkatan Pelukis Semenanjung) to PPMM (Persatuan Pelukis Melayu Malaya), I suggest that Hoessein Enas and APS’s ascendency marked a second moment in the development of modern art...
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In-Between @ Richard Koh Fine Art
Gan Chin Lee writes at his web log (in 藝術與現實的念想之間, and translated by this author), “I am a painter, whose chief concern is to resolve painterly issues. My artistic expression is in the form of social...
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Collectors Show @ White Box
Modern Malaysian artworks are rarely spotted outside private homes, and one has to rely on auction houses and galleries for such viewing opportunities. Walking into Fergana’s “Collectors Show”, the...
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Art Next Door @ White Box
Two giant bent cigarettes lie on the ground, the masking tape around it reminding one not to touch this glossy object. Look hard at Robert Zhao Renhui’s photographs and the camouflage falls away....
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Singular Rhapsody @ Xin Art Space
In the catalogue essay titled Rhapsodies of A Different Kind of Singularity: A Celebration of Malaysian Outsider, Naïve and Self Taught Art, curator Tan Sei Hon states the reason behind his interest in...
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