Artistic Merdeka

This intriguing exhibition features Malaysian art from the 1950s to the latest cutting-edge digital works.

SO what has 52 years of Malaysian art produced? It ranges from idyllic 1950s watercolours and surreal 1960s abstracts up to social statements of the 1990s and the digitally manipulated art of the new millennium – judging from the current exhibition Changing Phases: Relative Spaces at Galeri Petronas in Kuala Lumpur, held in conjunction with our 52nd Merdeka.

The show “explores the development of Malaysian art practices, examining the contemporary social environment of Malaysia and its relationship with its Asean neighbours since the 1950s, with selected artworks from the Petronas art collection”, says the press release.

The earliest work is Penang Hill (1951) by Yong Mun Sen, one of Malaysia’s foremost pioneer painters.

“This was his perfect world, very calm, very pastoral. Can you see where we have gone in 50 years?” laughs the exhibition’s guest curator Shireen Naziree, during a walk-through interview at Galeri Petronas while the works were being hung earlier this month.

His was “an uncomplicated fluid painting style synthesizing Western and Chinese aesthetic influences,” she adds.

The next artist she highlights is Latiff Mohidin. In addressing his Pago Pago series, Shireen notes: “His art of the 1960s was influenced by German Expressionism.

“Then, in his travels around South-East Asia, Latiff studied the relationship its great monuments, such as Angkor Wat, have with nature. Pago Pago is a combination of the organic shapes of leaves and his interpretation of ancient architecture.”

Shireen then comes to Khoo Sui Hoe, who graduated from Singapore’s Nanyang School of Art in 1959: “While he studied the antecedents and art of Matisse and Chagall, and admired the liberal surrealism of Picasso and Dali, Sui Hoe created his own stylised forms, allowing his imagination to flow with his sub-conscious memories.”

Regarding his work, Take a Cloud and Fly (1970), the artist once commented that he always “had a fascination with clouds as they are endless”.

Walking along the gallery in the recommended clockwise direction, we lay eyes on Dr Choong Kam Kow’s Image and Identity (1995). It juxtaposes Chinese dumplings and Malay ketupats, perhaps reflecting his tertiary educational background in both Taiwan and New York.

“Foodstuffs from our diverse cultures have given Malaysia its distinct identity,” points out Shireen. “And to capture this unique multiplicity, the artist has combined painting and silk screen printing techniques.”

Close by is Kelvin Chap’s Urban Invasion (2001) which suggests how age-old Sarawakian face masks have now been replaced by present day masks of long-sleeved shirts and ties.

“Previous generations were more open; we are less open and need to wear our version of masks these days,” smiles Shireen.

She adds that Chap’s interaction with the Dayak culture of Sarawak inspired his unique style of tightly rendered composite paintings of rich, colourful tribal cultures. But Urban Invasion departs from that to question how rapid urbanisation and modernisation are consuming native culture.

Another Sarawakian who looks at the loss of the state’s heritage is Shia Yih Yiing in the self-explanatory Homage to a Vanishing World (1997).

More social commentary is to come. Dua Daerah (2007) by Masnoor Ramli Mahmud compares the 2004 Asian tsunami in Aceh and the devastating earthquake in Jogjakarta in 2006 while Jailani Abu Hassan’s Halal (2006) is a reaction against prohibitions “being shoved down people’s throats” quips Shireen.

Bayu Utomo Radjikin’s Qiblat (2006) reflects the contemporary political question of whether the Malays will choose the path of the Quran or old (and new!) feudalism while Hamir Soib’s Cengkaman (2006) also questions the grip of tradition over our lives.

And then, there is Yau Bee Ling’s Private Lady (2008).

“It shows that busy-ness inside a woman’s head, how we connect by technology, through computers and mobile phones, and even have love affairs online nowadays,” comments Shireen.

Yee I-Lan’s digitally manipulated Kopivosian (2007), uses the Kadazan word for “welcome”. But instead of being greeted by Sabah’s rich green nature, the viewer sees a sterile strip mall.

Intimacy is felt in Simryn Gill’s series of photos of Malaysian home interiors, from the grand to the humble, taking us almost on a private journey to the inner sanctums of this nation.

Towards the end of the exhibition, we come to The Beginning by Syed Thajudeen, a Malaysian who trained in Madras (now Chennai), India.

“This work is about the beginning of Malacca, when Parameswara spots the deer.

“Syed Thajudeen studied first-hand the cave paintings of Ajanta there. The deep impact of the Indian art tradition on him is most noticeable in his figurative depictions of Ramayana characters. This is also a part of our Malaysian cultural tapestry.”

A fitting exhibition indeed for this month of Merdeka.