Art KL-itique

In a year where news highlights include two airplane disasters, the Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery puts together an exhibition program that commemorates the ten years since the Indian Ocean tsunami struck, where an estimated 184,000 lives were lost and ten times that number displaced. London-based Oi Nuen Sprunt stages an installation that aims to explore “damage and healing”, where large ink paintings on layered paper are hung around an organza-covered space. A Louis Ghost chair and casualty statistics contribute to the sombre mood, although the obscure performance video and deliberately messy presentation block out any sense of empathy. Perhaps the sunlight streaming through the windows helps one focus better on the here and now, instead of the art installation. Installation snapshots of Oi Nuen Sprunt - ShoutCryRoom The adjoining gallery shows recent works from 42 members of the Malaysian Watercolour Society, and 15 international artists. A medium utilised b...

The neighbourhood gallery celebrates this festive season of giving, by supporting self-taught and socially-conscientious painter Tan Wei Kheng, although the artist being featured in Singapore Biennale 2013 probably factored into the gallerist’s decision to represent him. Selling out by opening day, the exhibition presents illustrations of the Penan people, an indigenous tribe active in rainforest near the Sarawak and Brunei border. Having encountered them while trekking, it is difficult to empathise with realistic paintings which exotic presentation risks trivialising the real issues, and seeing Orang Ulu as the Other . Let Me See You Again (2014) Wei Kheng “…composes his paintings as triptychs or mosaics of canvases, constructing a collage of images of their struggle, values and hopes (…) In articulating the Penan’s lived experience, Tan visualises the language of the Penans.” Ong Jo-Lene’s excellent essay complements these paintings by articulating about the tribe’s pro...

Ali Nurazmal Yusoff curates this black & white exhibition, its wacky title depicting fun by virtue of its wide range of mediums on show. Fish designs seared onto canvas, a ‘Turning’ canopy projecting shadows, suspended snake and ladder toys, and sandwiched parchment between Perspex, display works from developing artists yet to realise their concepts or execution in its entirety. Established artists join in the monochromatic exercise via utilising innovative techniques – Azrin Mohd’s light boxes present a natural progressive for direct narratives, and Jamil Zakaria’s sculptures follow on from the artist’s characteristic manipulation of wire. Traditional oil painting retains its allure with Shafarin Ghani’s ‘Rohtang’, the sublime blend of greys denoting one under appreciated painter whose more colourful works upstairs impress with its controlled tone.  Shafarin Ghani - Rohtang (2014) Another masterly painter is Husin Hourmain, who presents a stunning black-on-black...

Gan Siong King selects 23 pictures from the internet then paints a realistic copy of it. As forewarned by the exhibition title , any attempt to decode his decade-long output, has to take into account the incoherent bits and pieces that intrigue one creative mind. The artist’s personal preoccupation with technological developments and outer space, manifest a desire to interrogate his “bad relationship with paintings.” Trained in painting and passionate about it, the arresting images chosen denote visual appeal as the main criteria, where the creative act of meaning-making is subsequently assigned via titles and web links. Tan Zi Hao’s eloquent essay states, “…a closer inspection on Gan’s paintings is never really satisfying because his paintings never elucidate despite being ‘realistic’.” So, what pleasures are attained upon inspecting these paintings? The persistence of why (2014) [ Reference image ] Beginning with the desire to understand colour, a heart-shaped diamond make...

Twenty Malaysian Institute of Art (MIA) students exhibit works from their second-year drawing classes, covering the entire art space with figurative illustrations of different sizes and mediums. Facial distortions and amalgamation of living and non-living subjects make a fascinating statement of what one recognises about the human body, formal properties like line and shade notwithstanding. Small doodles and motion captures prove delightful finds among the cluttered presentation, as real-life models transform into an expression of each student’s graphic style and creative throughput.  Installation snapshots

Paper lanterns and banners with painted slogans hang side-by-side in a mid-autumn festival celebration held along Jalan Sultan, the protest in disguise documented by Gan Sze Hooi in ‘Guardian of Petaling Street’. Dedicated to all who participated in activities organised by the Petaling Street Community Art Project (PSCAP) , Sze Hooi’s inaugural solo exhibition draws on his great eye for two-dimensional perspective, to preserve a heritage conservation movement as an interactive storyboard. Progress takes the form of construction work, where the viewer “discover faces that we recognize in the community” among old buildings and barren landscapes. The artist’s daughter is portrayed as a giant symbol of hope, contrasting with the wooden tower of despair erected at the centre of the exhibition space. Paradise Lost (2014) Painted onto canvas backed with magnet, moveable human figures and modern machines allow the audience to create subjective scenes and construct desired narratives...

Housed beside one well-restored kampung house, this selling exhibition “features a selection of antiquarian and recent books, maps and ephemera on Malaysia and Southeast Asia.” Beautiful maps and quirky posters recall a colonial past, the exhibits flanked by Ilse Noor’s etchings of local historical buildings seen in the Shell-commissioned Warisan Nusa . Flipping through 80-year old books about gardening techniques and Chinese porcelain is endlessly fascinating, while 1960s Papineau travel guides provide a glimpse into a time before Cuti-Cuti Malaysia . A 1978 edition of Aliran titled ‘Wither Democracy’ compiles essays and debates from local intellectuals then. Reading Tunku Abdul Rahman’s foreword, one wonders, what happened to the legacy of healthy political debate without invoking draconian laws? Ilse Noor - Makam Tok Pelam - Trengganu (1986) [ed. 20/300]

Appreciating a Yeoh Choo Kuan painting used to be an engaging experience. Underpainting is seen through layers of violent brush strokes, the smell of oil paints hang heavily in the air, thin horizontal lines resemble paper cuts, and esoteric titles imbue his abstract paintings with a reticent impression. Unveiling a “flesh object” approach, the usual sensory triggers are now suppressed behind mirrored frames hung in the neighbourhood gallery. Peeling lacquered oil paint mimic self-harm, but any brutal sentiment is encased in favour of protecting the material product, where art collectors treat abstract paintings as accumulated asset. Physical manipulation of paint becomes the spectacle in a hit-or-miss show, although some hits demonstrate the considerable prowess of this young artist. It’s Just One of Those Days (2014) These works “anthropomorphized the canvas; moving away from mere depictions of the figure to a sort of theatrical play by treating the paintings as props to ...

As the story goes, sculpture in Malaysian art developed from a local crafting practice, and its modern form synthesises eastern and western traditions more effectively than painting ever did. Constantin Brâncuși springs to mind when one sees Tengku Sabri Ibrahim’s ‘The Warrior’, its elegantly elongated shape and shiny smooth surface, subscribing to features of the Romanian’s works. However, the abstracted figure takes after an enlarged keris hilt, with carved recesses that resemble fighting wounds. References to a traditional weapon, and the legends that come with it, transform this block of wood into Malaysian art. Also universally beautiful yet alluding to local culture is Mad Anuar Ismail’s ‘Telur Kencana 1’, which numinous qualities of khat (Arabic calligraphy) is presented in a wonderfully-balanced, inverted-point sculpture. Tengku Sabri Ibrahim - The Warrior (1988) Past and present mythologies anchor the best works, in this showcase  of works from a prominent priv...