Sabri Idrus, Water @ Taksu

A false door in an Egyptian tomb, serves as a historical example where geometric shapes were imposed onto flat vertical surfaces. Now, interior designers expose brick to create visual interest, notwithstanding more traditional methods of installing wainscoting or wallpaper. However, these methods do not project spatial depth like a false door. Evident since his "Lorek-lorek" series a decade ago, Sabri Idrus displays a preoccupation with utilising forms to create functional space. The "Karat" series shows colour manipulations that recall a visual familiarity with material elements. In the "Antara" series, spatial depth is illustrated via lines that project architectural perspectives. At this group show, "Water" exhibits a culmination of the artist's oeuvre, an amalgamated result from previous experiments. 

Sabri Idrus - Tinggalan (2013)

Constrained by the flat surface, Sabri employs a vigorous method of apply-destroy to replicate texture, via exploitation of plaster and house paint. The colours are not pretty - mouldy green, rust brown, cement grey, dirt black; Yet his constructs evoke a strong tactile intensity, where superimposed shapes imply its reference object, commenting on the consequences of infrastructure development. Lines converge into an eternal horizon within the canvas ('Tinggalan' and 'Dried'), or extend outwards beyond the rectangular borders ('Underground' and 'After the Rain', featured & repeated as this web log's wallpaper). Producing artworks that hold attention and allow immediate immersion, Sabri Idrus stands above his class as an inquisitive artist, with an innate desire to create and innovate.

Sabri Idrus - Underground (2013); Close-up of surface texture