Art KL-itique

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 m...

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,...

Repressed desire in Loh Bok Lai’s pair of women aside, Dasein graduate s 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 ...

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 illu...

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 t...