Category Archives: Catalogue

Exhibition: Breathe

Artist(s): Umibaizurah Mahir@Ismail, Mohd Al-Khuzairie Ali, Satoko Ootsuki

Gallery: Galeri Chandan and Patisatustudio

Year: 2016

The Clay Chemistry

“Breathe is about patience and trust that a ceramic artist as a human being shares with one another.

The exhibition is driven by the usage of the same medium: CLAY.

Clay is a life medium. Clay itself is breathing. Breathing? Yes, it is necessary for life and survival.

Clay or earth is a unique medium. It derives purely from the earth.

What makes Breathe interesting is that it brings the three of us together.

“Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung”.

And clay reminds us of the Creator, Allah/God.

To respect life, beliefs and humankind.

Clay strengthens our hearts.

And clay makes us special…”

~ Umibaizurah Mahir @ Ismail

Breathe is the culmination of Patisatustudio’s 2016 initiative comprising whimsical ceramic sculptures by Japanese ceramic sculptor, Satoko Ootsuki alongside Malaysian contemporary artists and sculptors Al-Khuzairie Ali and Umibaizurah Mahir @ Ismail as a result of a two-month exchange residency programme.

Held at Galeri Chandan, Publika, Kuala Lumpur from 4 until October 23, 2016, the selling exhibition presents 20 sculptures made from clay alongside mixed media works.

Working towards a common theme of “seed”, the trio reflect on the idea of birth, fertility and nature, while taking the opportunity to gain knowledge through each other’s artistic practices and at the same time strengthening cultural bonds.
The significance of clay in Breathe is not only in the obvious choice of material, but it is also a representation of humanity.

In many beliefs particularly in Islam, it is said that Man is made from Earth. A verse in the Holy Quran stated that: “We created man (Adam) from an extract of clay (water and earth)” (Surah AlMumenoon, 23:12).

When the human body is examined today, it may be discovered that many elements presented on earth are also found in the body. Living tissues contain 95% carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur, with a total of 26 different elements.

“The theme for this show is inspired by the idea of ‘breathing together’ in the same space. For instance, the idea of three artists producing artworks from the same material, firing in the same kiln yet diverse in techniques and styles, is intriguing,” says Umibaizurah.

“Satoko’s work is feminine, its form is fine and delicate, the colours are originally pastel and sweet, like the accessories and jewelleries that she makes but it changes over time. While Khuzairie’s hybrid form comes from his imagination and science fiction in creating something exciting. My work in Breathe consists of experiential expressions and new experimental techniques.”

Patisatustudio Cultural Exchange Residency
Organised by Patisatustudio, the artists-initiative programme is fully funded by founders and hosts Umibaizurah Mahir @ Ismail and Ahmad Shukri Mohamed.

Located in a quiet suburb in Puncak Alam, Selangor, Patisatustudio was established in 2007 by the artist-couple to facilitate their soaring artistic practices and to create a platform for cultural exchange programmes for the arts community.

Patisatu, which means “uniting essence” not only serves as a studio for the couple but also as an invitational creative space for visiting artists. The non-profit initiative aims to build a network for international artists working in ceramic.

“We have been organising international artists exchange programmes since Patisatustudio’s inception. For almost a decade now, we have welcomed friends from Indonesia, Japan and Europe,” says Umibaizurah about the self-funded programme.

Through the couple’s aspiration for global presence, Umibaizurah and Ahmad Shukri have been actively attending workshops and participating in exhibitions abroad since the late 90’s.

In 2004, Umibaizurah attended a ceramic workshop organised by the International Workshop of Ceramic Art (IWCAT) in Tokoname Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

In 2009, Patisatustudio welcomed Japanese duo, Chikako Yoshikawa and Kazuko Uga for a “residency production in Patisatustudio, Malaysia” and showcased their ceramic sculptures in an exhibition entitled Tanah Timur (Eastern Soil) at Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur.

Umibaizurah, Chikako Yoshikawa and Kazuko Uga held a group show at Azabujuban Gallery, Minato, Tokyo in 2010 following a residency programme in Tokoname, Japan. This experience ignited Patisatustudio’s residency exchange programmes in the years to come.

In 2014, Patisatustudio hosted Dutch ceramic artist Lei Hannen after Ahmad Shukri Mohamed, Umibaizurah and Al-Khuzairie Ali visited the Netherlands the year before. The residency programme concluded with an exhibition entitled Route 19 held at Pace Gallery, Petaling Jaya.

While in the Netherlands, the quartet held an exhibition entitled 5 Seasons at Norbert Dabekauussen Kunst Gallery Sittard.

Focusing on “experiential gains”, the programme is also aimed at personal attainment in an environment away for home. In July2015, the trio held an exhibition entitled Kita in Tokyo after spending some time working in Satoko’s studio named Doronco Studio in Yokohama, Japan.

In a reciprocal act, Umibaizurah welcomes Satoko to Malaysia for the first time, having met each other in a ceramic residency hosted by Chikako Yoshikawa and Kazuko Uga in Tokoname in 2010. During her two-month stay here, Satoko adapts to the way of life in Malaysia from culture, custom, food, and artistic production.

Satoko Ootsuki
A former architecture student, Satoko Ootsuki has been producing ceramic art since 2009. Satoko’s sculptures are delicate and feminine, mirroring the maker herself. The intricacy of Satoko’s work echoes her passion for jewellery-making.

Created using a mixture of bone china and porcelain, Satoko’s intricate sculptures of hybrid sea life with fruits and vegetables possesses crisp and glossy qualities.

Passing #1 and Passing #2 depicts a pair of fish coated in an assortment of vegetables, floral and seashells, a recurring motif in her body of work. Diminutive dots like ornaments are applied to create texture and as an indication of passing time.

“The dots suggest the rain. It also signifies the cycle of life like counting down the days for an egg to hatch or the birth of a new life,” explains Satoko.

“It could also indicate the repetitive cycle with regards to ceramic art making like the firing process or time taken to complete a piece of work.”

Drive features a sweet corn amalgamated with a protruding onion adorned with floral motifs and seashells.

When I first visited Patisatustudio three weeks prior and view the artists’ progress, Satoko showed me some of her works made in Doronco Studio that was brought to Malaysia. They are mainly oblong-shaped – either a representation of an egg or a bell pepper – to signify life.

The aesthetics progress of Satoko’s works have immensely evolved ever since. For instance, Someday consists of a four tiered sculpture varying in form. Its circular base is embellished with seashell-shaped ceramics; a hybrid fish and a bird placed above it is also embellished in the same manner; a smaller globular form is positioned on top of the cross-breed creature; followed by an egg-shaped form placed at the top to complete the composition.

Without a doubt, the residency has made an impact in Satoko’s production particularly with her use of pigments that are seen to be more intense as compared to her “sweet” pastel sculptures made in Doronco Studio.

Mohd Al-Khuzairie Ali
Emerging artist and sculptor Al-Khuzairie has been residing in Patisatustudio since 2008 to acquire the tricks of the trade from mentor Umibaizurah.

Though Khuzairie works in the same workshop as Umibaizurah, he has developed a hallmark style through his sculptures.

Mainly inspired by Japanese pop culture, Khuzairie creates works that incorporate local fruits and vegetables with traditional culture like wayang kulit in an attempt to preserve declining heritage values.

Having participated in an exchange programme in Japan with Umibaizurah and Satoko in 2015, Khuzairie gathers his experiences and creates multicultural and cosmopolitan opuses for Breathe.

“In Blue Samurai, I have formed a character based on my imagination. It depicts an anime-inspired warrior wearing a Viking helmet and a face mask with body armour to project power and strength,” explains Khuzairie.

The work is accompanied with a mixed media work on five panels, one of them, which illustrates the best of both cultures: the Geisha and wayang kulit with an ornamental motif found in traditional kampong houses alongside repetitive images of Mount Fuji in the background.

“For Breathe, I am inspired by the ‘look east policy’ initiated by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad in 1982 hence the inter-national references.”

“Japan is rich culturally, historically and economically. Their traditions are highly preserved yet made relevant in current times. Even the manga culture is celebrated globally. In Malaysia, we are also blessed with an abundance of different traditions and customs. But they are regrettably unpreserved or no longer practiced like mak yong, kuda kepang or wayang kulit,” says Khuzairie.

In Semangat Timur, Khuzairie creates five panels painted in various backgrounds to convey cultural assimilation with manga mug shots made of ceramic adhered onto each panel.

Also on display is a selection of fruits and vegetables like banana, pear, pineapple and bitter gourd moulded with skulls and human hearts to suggest life.
Parasite is an exemplary of such infusion. In one of the seven wall sculptures, Khuzairie imaginatively substitutes a banana flesh with a human skeleton with its peel split open.

Contemporary yet conventional in approach, he embraces both popular and traditional cultures as an appreciation for Eastern values.

Umibaizurah Mahir @ Ismail
As one of the initiators of the residency programme, Umibaizurah multi-tasks her daily life as a ceramic artist, host, wife and a mother of two. Having recently showcased her solo exhibition entitled Fragile by Umibaizurah: Recent Works 2015 – 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, the diligent artist achieves boundless experiences at home and abroad since participating in her first group exhibition in 1997 and an international workshop in 2004.

Known as one of the most remarkable female ceramic sculptors in the Malaysian art fraternity, Umibaizurah constantly pushes the envelope by creating a coterie of figurines matched with idiosyncratic accessories for her quixotic installation works.

Umibaizurah constructs a dog sculpture carrying a bunch of bananas on its back secured by a bandage soaked in clay. The sculpture is placed on a couple of elevated steel discs.

Besides depicting hard work and perseverance, the work – aptly titled Heavyweight – also contains cultural elements that are relevant to the residency programme.
According to Umibaizurah, in Japan, dogs are common pets, like the infamous Hachiko.

“When Satoko first arrived in Puncak Alam, she was curious as to why there were no dogs in sight. I told her that due to religious beliefs, Muslims are not allowed to keep dogs as pets. Although there are dogs in Malaysia, I just thought that this is a fascinating cultural difference,” enthuses Umibaizurah.

In a similar vein, Pout Frowny depicts a swine with a pile of bitter gourd tied on its back.

Camouflage features a group of infused creatures and vegetables: the body of a fish with aubergine as its beak and a bird’s wings placed on a raised-up metal disc.

The Surrogate illustrates a bird wrapped in an oversized cauliflower attached on metal bar with a steel disc as base.

Umibaizurah’s work encompasses issues of consumerism, environment and nature. Meal consists of a variety of crossbreed fruits and vegetables to represent the wealth of natural resources in Malaysia, displayed on a steel structure.

“This exhibition is a celebration of multiculturalism and we hope to continue this residency programme by inviting artist-friends from other countries in the future, perhaps Singapore, Thailand or Korea?” says Umibaizurah.

Link to pdf

Exhibition: Raduan Man: Ascension to Abstraction

Artist(s): Raduan Man

Gallery: Whitebox, Publika Shopping Gallery

Year: 2016

An Act of Freedom

Raduan Man’s arrival at abstract expressionism is neither an act of impulse nor coincidental. For an artist who has built a name for a certain “style” and to “abruptly” go off course may sometimes be met with criticism.

The ultimate question most people want an answer to is “why?”

I, too, ruefully was one of the curious cynics.

To comprehend Raduan’s decision, however absurd or brilliant – I go for the latter – it is crucial to dig deep to the very core.

What do we know about the art of Raduan Man thus far?

The Malaysian art fraternity is familiar with Raduan’s woodcut and printmaking technique on canvas since his first solo exhibition entitled Fresh Markings held at NN Gallery in Kuala Lumpur in 2003.

With a master’s degree in both painting and printmaking, Raduan ingeniously incorporates both styles to create artworks with attractive subject matters from cats, dragons and roosters to airplanes and motor vehicles.

Woodcut and printmaking require discipline, patience and technical expertise. With years of experience repeating these tedious processes, it is no surprise that Raduan yearns for another form of expression beyond the constraints of relief print and layers of screen printing.
Raduan endured a melancholic period after his father’s demise in 2008. During this time, he journeyed to the holy land of Mecca in search of peace within himself.

On his return, Raduan approached the canvas with healing verses from the Holy Quran and created five unique works based on his pilgrimage. One of the works entitled Ayat Kursi is derived from verse 255 of the second chapter, Surah al-Baqarah (The Chapter of the Cow).

After thirteen years of practicing art professionally, Raduan presents his latest solo exhibition with a fresher than ever perspective.

Journeying to the Zenith
Raduan Man: Ascension to Abstraction is the artist’s eighth solo exhibition featuring a new body of work created in the form of “action painting”.¹

A fresh endeavour for Raduan Man, who is a master in printmaking – literally and academically – the exhibition showcases over twenty abstract paintings and one colossal work consisting of nine panels measuring eight foot by eighteen foot entitled Sky Fighters from his War series, created between 2011 and 2015.

Raduan’s arrival at abstract expressionism is the result of an emotional and cerebral
resolution.

“I needed to break away from my comfort zone,” says Raduan.

For him, the meaning of “comfort zone” refers to the daily grind of preparing stencils, carving images into the surface of a block of wood, transferring screen prints on canvas, layering, mark-making, painting and cleaning his tools.

“I am grateful to have chosen printmaking as a major subject as an undergraduate. It taught me discipline and patience.

“But after years of undergoing rigid processes, I am ready to rise up to the challenge and to be free from the routine,” adds Raduan.

Since 2003, Raduan has produced sought-after series namely Animal, Signature, War and Dragon encompassing mixed media techniques. The transition to abstract expressionism in its purest began in 2015.

In a particular work entitled Sky Guard dated 2015, Raduan expressively paints the canvas in multiple hues of blue, red and green with white gestures dominating the background and warplanes in opaque green and black floating on the foreground.

Now, try visualising the subject matter being reduced, and then absent altogether from the canvas, resulting in the viewer being confronted with a large-scale abstract work on canvas. This is precisely how Raduan’s new works are being presented, devoid of any object and imagery.

Hailing from Kampung Lengkong in Pahang – a village approximately 30 kilometres from Bentong town – Raduan, who now resides in Selangor, regularly visits his hometown to partake in agricultural activities and to relish in his personal interests like fishing, hunting and hiking in the forest.

Thus, it is only fitting that this body of work is inspired by his days and nights spent in the wilderness.

“Being with nature is very therapeutic. I find solace in harvesting bananas and durians, and reaping the fruits of my labour,” says Raduan who has taken up farming in the countryside during his spare time.

It is through this experience that Raduan rediscovers the magnificence of Mother Nature and feels the urge to convey them in a way that he knows best. Hence, the start of a new artistic journey.

“I have always admired the works of Willem de Kooning and Jean-Michel Basquiat,” confesses Raduan.

Sharing the same viewpoint as de Kooning in relations to art making, Raduan’s inquisitive spirit allows him to go above and beyond the constraints of a “mature signature style” such as that already developed by Raduan.

He challenges his own facility by exploring new styles and methods in an attempt to rebel against adherence to any form of orthodoxy.

Raduan’s gestural works require physical endurance as much as creativity. Evident in every composition is the dynamism of his brushstrokes and rhythmic mark-making.

For instance, Gong Rimba exhibits the qualities of a spirited action painter: full of energy and enthusiasm.

Presented in a diptych, the pulsating artwork combines formalistic merits of colour, form, line and space. Raduan’s choice of colour palette includes a mixture of cadmium yellow with lemon yellow, prussian blue, cerulean blue and cyan, titanium white as well as ivory black.

The vibrancy of the artwork is achieved through deliberate engagements with the canvas and intuitive movements for colour application.

Harold Rosenberg (1906-1978), an American art critic and an advocate of American abstract expressionism wrote in an essay entitled The American Action Painters in 1952:²

“At a certain moment the canvas began to appear to one American painter after another as an arena in which to act— rather than as a space in which to reproduce, re-design, analyze or “express” an object, actual or imagined. What was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event.

The painter no longer approached his easel with an image in his mind; he went up to it with material in his hand to do something to that other piece of material in front of him. The image would be the result of this encounter.”

He later described:

“A painting that is an act is inseparable from the biography of the artist. The painting itself is a “moment” in the adulterated mixture of his life—whether “moment” means, in one case, the actual minutes taken up with spotting the canvas or, in another, the entire duration of a lucid drama conducted in sign language. The act-painting is of the same metaphysical substance as the artist’s existence. The new painting has broken down every distinction between art and life.”

And Rosenberg continued by indicating the significance of “gesture” that proves relevant till today beyond the borders of America.

“The big moment came when it was decided to paint…. Just TO PAINT. The gesture on the canvas was a gesture of liberation, from Value—political, aesthetic, moral.”

After more than six decades of writing, action painting has become increasingly alive as attested by Raduan’s body of work.

Tools of the Trade
Disciplined and organised, Raduan’s virtues are reflected in his workspace. The light and airy ground floor studio is spacious with plenty of room to work on large canvases.

Oil bars and tubes of paints, turpentine, linseed oil, brushes and other materials are neatly organised on the floor within arm’s reach, ready to be used wherever the mood takes him.

Raduan’s meticulousness is apparent right down to selecting the right type of tools for his expressions. High quality Windsor & Newton’s oil paints are used lavishly in Raduan’s composition. His unconventional utensils comprise brushes of all sizes, nylon broom bristles and his bare hands.

In order to achieve the heavily textured base of his paintings, Raduan prepares a palette full of dried oil paint, as thick as the dense forest. Then, he emotively applies them on the canvas before vigorously layering more paint over it.

A classic example is also seen in The Unbeaten Path, illustrated in different shades of green, blue, yellow with hints of white and red, and scrawls of thick black lines adding to the textured composition.

The outcome of this emotional experience is beyond the notion of existentialism that portrays “an act of necessary self-assertion, an expression of freedom and authenticity”.³

For Raduan, expressing himself in this manner is liberating and fulfilling. This may just be the start of a lifelong experimental journey. In a bright foreseeable future, could we anticipate sculptures and other forms of art by Raduan Man?

“The possibility is endless with art,” declares an optimistic Raduan.

Past, Present and Future
In the context of abstract art in Malaysia, its young history was first etched by a handful of artists from the mid-fifties to 1960s.

These remarkable talents include Tay Hooi Keat (1910 – 1989), Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal (1929 – 2011), Datuk Ibrahim Hussein (1936 – 2009), Yeoh Jin Leng, 87, Cheong Lai Tong, 84, Khalil Ibrahim, 82, Khoo Sui Hoe, 77 and Abdul Latiff Mohidin, 75.

Mainly graduates of art schools in United Kingdom, the United States of America and even Germany, they committed themselves to being either art educators, cultural advocates, full-time artists, or altogether upon returning to Malaysia.

These ‘pioneers’ of Malaysian abstract art have paved the way for generations of abstract artists to come, resulting in an ever bourgeoning and vibrant scene until today.⁴

In a pluralistic landscape, abstract art has become accessible to many due to its organic and non-representational characteristics. Colour, line, form and space are the main elements that determine its aesthetic value albeit subjectively.

Art collectors have become well-informed in the development of Malaysian art with the rise of primary and secondary markets in Malaysia within the past six years, thus becoming more sophisticated in their collecting method.⁵

Appreciation in Malaysian art is also extended to private corporations and public institutions. As a universal visual vocabulary since World War two, the demand for abstract art has amplified globally.⁶

The growing prevalence of the abstract in modern art has resulted in a socio-historical explanation associated to Theodor W. Adorno (1903 – 1969), a German philosopher, sociologist, and composer known for his critical theory of society Adorno believed that such abstraction is a response to, and a reflection of, the growing abstraction of social relations in the industrial society.

“The abstractness of the new is bound up with the commodity character of art … The absolute artwork converges with the absolute commodity. The modern pays tribute to this in the vestige of the abstract in its concept.” ⁷

Progressive artists are constantly experimenting with new ideas and throughout art history; an artist is never bound to a single medium.⁸

Documenting Raduan’s early formation in expressionism at present is a stimulating venture, as this is the start of an exhilarating journey for the artist and his audience. History is currently in the making.

Link to pdf

Exhibition: The Nanyang Show

Artist(s): Chen Wen Hsi, Chia Hui Chian, Chia Yu Chian, Chong Hip Seng, Fung Yow Chork, Heng Eow Lin, Ho Kay Beng, Khaw Sia, Khoo Sui Hoe, Kuo Ju Ping, Le Chek Wen, Lee Cheng Yong, Lee Joo For, Ong Kim Seng, Seah Kim Joo, Tan Choon Ghee, Tew Nai Tong, Tsai Horng Chung, Yong Mun Seng

Gallery: Visual Arts Centre, Singapore

Year: 2016

Interpreting Nanyang Art: The 10 Essentials

The theme Nanyang is distinctive of Southeast Asian history particularly in the study of cultural identity and Chinese diaspora that is significant in the development of art in alternative modernism.¹

This essay is an accompaniment to The Nanyang Show from 9 to 12 June 2016 at the Visual Arts Centre in Singapore, showcasing 47 artworks by selected artists who have created paintings centered on the Nanyang theme, either the artists had lived during the time when the call for “local color” was at its peak or as a continuity of an artistic approach still apparent today.²

Featuring works by Chen Wen Hsi, Chia Hui Chian, Chia Yu Chian, Chong Hip Seng, Fung Yow Chork, Heng Eow Lin, Ho Khay Beng, Khaw Sia, Khoo Sui Hoe, Kuo Ju Ping, Le Chek Wen, Lee Cheng Yong, Lee Joo For, Ong Kim Seng, Seah Kim Joo, Tan Choon Ghee, Tew Nai Tong, Tsai Horng Chung and Yong Mun Sen dated since the 1930s, the artworks not only offer visual aesthetics, but also historical narratives in Malaya, Malaysia and Singapore.

Much has been written about the Nanyang Style and its artists. In this text, ten essential points about Nanyang Art covering its origins, advocates, purposes, period, context, viewpoints, stylistic method, geographic importance, influences, and its present relevance are gathered. With reference to the artworks on offer, viewers are able to observe various interpretations of a newfound land at its essence.

Though this exhibition may only feature a fraction of a more extensive premise – focusing mainly on artists from Malaysia – it must be noted that some of the more important Nanyang artists comprising of names like Liu Kang, Lim Hak Tai, Lim Yew Kuan, Georgette Chen, Chua Mia Tee, Cheong Soo Pieng, Tan Tee Chie, See Cheen Tee, Yeh Chi Wei, Lim Mu Hue, Lai Foong Moi, Chuah Thean Teng, Chong Pai Mu, Chen Chong Swee, Lim Tze Peng, to name a few, produce remarkable works that also express the spirit of the Southern Seas.

1. Defining Nanyang
Nanyang or ‘Southern Seas’ is a term originally coined in the late 1920s by literary intelligentsia to indicate contemporary Chinese narratives written based on local subjects.³

Prominent historian and scholar Wang Gungwu explains its geographic meaning: “the word ‘Nanyang’, the ‘Southern Ocean’, is used as an equivalent of the more recent coinage, ‘South-east Asia’. But there is an important difference. There is implied in the word ‘Nanyang’ territories which have been reached by sea, by the South China Sea, and consequently, the areas which specially concern the Nanyang Chinese have been the key coastal strips of mainland Southeast Asia.”⁴

In this exhibition, viewers are able to examine the amalgamation of Eastern and Western painting techniques in illustrations that depict a particular time and space.

For instance, Tan Choon Ghee’s use of Chinese ink with calligraphy brush and watercolour on rice paper to depict Singapore River landscape dated 1977 and Chia Hui Chian’s rendition of the Morning Market, which illustrates a group of multi-ethnic figures adorning vibrant attires in a market setting executed in Post-Impressionism manner. Both pictures are geographically domestic in context achieved in a combination of methods.

Another observable example is Yong Mun Sen’s depiction of local farmers planting paddy in the field executed in oil on canvas laid on board. Created in 1946, Paddy Planting illustrates four agriculturalists – three figures are bending over in chorus to plant the rice seedlings into a muddy bed of soil, while the other figure is watching over them holding a bunch of rice plants in her hand – painted in a Western manner.

2. The Making of Nanyang Style
There are various social and political occurrences that have instigated the need for a cultural revolution in China – the opening up of treaty ports in China in the nineteenth century, the acceptance of Western artistic ideas and materials, the inculcation of Western and Chinese ideals in Chinese education by Cai Yuanpei (1868 – 1940), which leads to the New Culture and May Fourth movements, the increasing number of Overseas Chinese in Malaya and Singapore, imperialism and communism, SinoJapanese wars – any of which may have influenced the change either directly or indirectly as recounted by historians.⁵

Publications also played a critical role in promoting the Cultural Revolution in Malaya (including Singapore). A number of essays discussing the issue of Nanyang literature were produced by Singapore’s writers between 1927 and 1933 with titles like “Singapore Artists, Awake,” “Literary Culture and the Overseas Chinese,” and “Literature and Local Color” were published in Huang Dao, Ye Lin, Wenyi Zhoukan, and Fan Xing.⁶

Zeng Shengti (1901 – 1982), editor of Wenyi Zhoukan wrote in an essay for the 1929 inaugural edition: “Singapore artists, awake! The old world has melted under the fierce heat of the sun. Let us hang our flag upon the towering coconut tree. The immense and cloudless sky affirms our openness. The elephant symbolizes our resoluteness. The long green leaves declare our freshness. The sea rings out our triumph cry. Our fresh environment provides us with unlimited material. Come, let us blow by blow and layer by layer construct our artistic, iron tower.”⁷

Around the same time in Penang, versatile artist Lee Cheng Yong displayed a strong expression of regionalism through his work. Created circa 1930s, Fertile Soil features a pastoral landscape by the coast, consisting of a few huts that could perhaps suggest an agricultural area amidst a seascape background. His warm and earthy colour palette of Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna with hints of blue and green illustrates “the fierce heat of the sun”.

The New Culture Movement in Singapore was aimed to promote nation building and enlightenment in cultural change. With vernacularisation as the intellectual’s first quest by using Mandarin as the “national language” and to approach their writings in “local color” by making Southeast Asia as their canvas and calling this new culture “Nanyang” or “huaqiao” or Overseas Chinese culture.⁸

Chen Wen Hsi’s Gibbons not only retains elements of Chinese culture, firstly in its medium and format, secondly in its subject matter – Chen was first inspired by a painting by the 13th century Southern Song Dynasty Chinese artist Mu Xi titled White Robed Guanyin, Crane and Gibbon while he was still in China – but it also demonstrates his commitment in artistic endeavours when he purchased a white-faced gibbon for $300 at a pet shop shortly after arriving in Singapore in the late 1940s and nurturing it in his garden to study the postures and characteristics of the primate.

3. Subject Matter and Technique
In the quest for finding new pictorial language that reflects the tropical milieu, “the Nanyang artists adopted an experimental approach, using styles and techniques derived from two sources: Chinese pictorial traditions, and the School of Paris” as described by T. K. Sabapathy in the 1979 Pameran Retrospektif Pelukis-Pelukis
Nanyang (Nanyang Artists Retrospective Exhibition) catalogue.⁹

Evident in the work of Tsai Horng Chung titled Young Tribal Lady Playing Gong, the artist has incorporated his surroundings into his paintings. Born in 1916 in China, Tsai graduated from Shanghai Art Academy and was one of the pioneer Nanyang artists who migrated to Sarawak to teach art in 1943. Trained in traditional Chinese painting, he skillfully illustrates a native playing a traditional music instrument in a stylised manner using ink and colour on rice paper mounted on scroll.

Kevin Chua, in his essay titled Painting the Nanyang’s Public: Notes Toward A Reassessment elucidates another accurate description of the Nanyang Style from the 1950s:

“What marks so many Nanyang paintings of the early 1950s is the sense that subjects were available, and close at hand: a prahu or fishing boat, cows grazing, even something as prosaic as a rubbish dump. Thrown back into the world, painting was confronted with the everyday, the ordinary. The story of Malayan painting of the 1950s was the struggle to represent and thus speak to the public, to find that imaginary exterior point that could capture both inside and outside.”¹⁰

The descriptive subject matter is evident in the works of Kuo Ju Ping (Boat Construction, Reaching Home, Rice Mill, The Hut by the Back Alley, Unloading Cargo), Fung Yow Chork (By the Jetty at Pulau Ketam), Ho Khay Beng (Stilt Houses) and Yong Mun Sen (A Hut Near Water, Singapore Riverside Scene, Still Life with Pots). Based on these images, the artists have captured the realities of a specific place at a particular time.

4. Western Influence Eastern Context
From a formalistic perspective, paintings created by the Nanyang artists that is being referred to as Nanyang Style encompasses “a combination of techniques and approaches from the School of Paris, Chinese traditional ink painting from the literati tradition, as well as the Shanghai School.”¹¹

The three distinctive categories of artistic solutions are the fusion of Eastern and Western techniques, the adaptation of new subject matter into traditional Chinese painting, and the depiction of local context through a distinctive Western art movement.

Khaw Sia’s watercolour treatment of the exterior of a Buddhist temple, Lee Cheng Yong’s Cubist-style Four Ladies, Lee Joo For’s vibrant expressions on canvas, and Fung Yow Chork’s impression of the Pongal celebration either fit one or all of the criteria. This innovative approach reflects Lim Hak Tai’s vision for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), as stated in his manifesto.¹²

Good Time by Tew Nai Tong dated 1974 illustrates organic forms in blue and pale yellow and Khoo Sui Hoe’s painting titled Cloud with Reflection dated 1978 – which features a circular form dominating a square canvas in sky blue with a single white cloud perched above a flowing grey pole and the cloud’s organic-shaped reflection illustrated beneath – indicate that experimentation in various techniques contribute to the “development of the spirit of science and trends of modern thinking”. Such Western-influenced representations demonstrate the magnitude of the Nanyang Style.

5. Painting the Southern Seas
A historic painting excursion to Bali by four Singapore pioneer artists Chen Wen Hsi, Chen Chong Swee, Cheong Soo Pieng and Liu Kang in 1952 aimed to seek “new pictorial structures and expressions to reflect the tropical environment, the multicultural aspects of Nanyang and cultural themes rooted within the region.”¹³

The following year, an exhibition titled Four Artists to Bali showcasing fresh visual vocabulary created during the sojourn was held at the British Council. Art historian T. K. Sabapathy noted the significance of this group show “particularly in relation to the depiction of the human figure resulted in the creation of figure types which are indelibly linked with the Nanyang artists, and which proved to be influential for other artists” in his essay titled Modern Art in Singapore: Pioneers and Premises.¹⁴

Khoo Sui Hoe’s interpretation of Bali dated 1968 manifests the effects of both the exotic island as a source of artistic inspiration, and the use of “figure types” in most of his paintings. In this piece, the artist illustrates the demon character Rangda from the mythical traditional Barong dance alongside his signature figure. Again, in 2009, Khoo Sui Hoe revisits the subject matter with a painting titled Dancer from Bali.

6. Educators as Artists
The establishment of NAFA in Singapore in 1938 by Lim Hak Tai was driven by the quiescent presence of the British in the art scene. Consisted of only fourteen students in its first year of opening, the school had three full time teachers, Kao Fei Tse who taught drawing and Chang Meng Tse who taught design including Lim who taught watercolour and oil painting.¹⁵

While the categorisation of “Nanyang artists” deriving exclusively from NAFA is debatable, I am in agreement with Emelia Ong in referring to Nanyang artists as “to those who taught at NAFA, those who graduated from the academy and those who shared close relationships with them and played important roles in the shaping of an eclectic approach to art-making.”¹⁶

There are a number of art educators who simultaneously pursue their artistic practice namely Chen Wen Hsi (South China College, Shantou, China 1946 – 1947, The Chinese High School, Singapore 1949 – 1968, NAFA 1951 – 1959, Singapore), Lee Cheng Yong (Chung Ling High School, Penang), Kuo Ju Ping (Chung Ling High School, Union High School, Li Tek School, Han Chiang High School, Penang), Khaw Sia (Chung Ling High School, Penang 1949 – 1958, Penang Chinese Girls High School, 1958), Lee Joo For (Penang Free School, Head of the Art Department, Malaysian Teacher’s College, Johor Bahru, lecturer in Creative Arts, Catholic University, Victoria, Australia) and Ho Khay Beng (Han Chiang High School, Penang 1958).¹⁷

The next generation of Nanyang artists who was trained by pioneer artists is Tan Choon Ghee (attended NAFA from 1949 – 1951 with the influence of his mentor Kuo Ju Ping), Chia Yu Chian (who took personal art trainings with Chen Wen Hsi) and Khoo Sui Hoe (attended NAFA and was trained by Georgette Chen and Cheong Soo Pieng).

Self-taught artists comprise of Yong Mun Sen (who played a seminal role in forming the Penang Chinese Art Club and Singapore Society of Chinese Artists as well as the establishment of NAFA) and Fung Yow Chork (founder member of Thursday Art Group, member of Wednesday Art Group, Selangor Art Society, Singapore Art Society and Malaysian Artists Association).

The involvement of these artists in spreading art knowledge is just as important as the need to create new modes of visual expressions thus making them key contributors in the Nanyang Style.

7. Writings and Exhibitions
In 1979, prolific artist, educator and cultural thinker Redza Piyadasa presented an important exhibition titled Pameran Retrospektif Pelukis-Pelukis Nanyang at Muzium Seni Negara, Kuala Lumpur, which featured 40 artists over the period 1938 to 1965. In the exhibition catalogue, Piyadasa recounts the atmosphere at NAFA as conveyed by students who studied there:

“Ho Khay Beng recalls that the influence of Cheong Soo Pieng and Chen Wen Hsi was especially strong on the students, such that nearly all the senior students would end up imitating one or the other of the two ‘masters’. In Western painting, Cheong Soo Pieng’s influence was nothing less than mesmerising. Lim Mu Hue (class 1953 -55) has described the conditions at the academy during the 50s as being symbolised by the overwhelming presence of three studio teachers – Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Chong Swee and Chen Wen Hsi. According to him, Cheong Soo Pieng’s influence was most powerful on his students, and that his influence was determined in no small way by his approach to easel painting considerations. Cheong Soo Pieng was perhaps singularly responsible for establishing several of the styles that were imitated by the students of the academy, and which subsequently came to be associated with that institution.”¹⁸

In conjunction with the fourth Singapore Biennale in 2013, the National Museum of Singapore presented an exhibition titled A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s – 1970s, which showcased key pieces to highlight social, political and economic responses to post-war development of art in Singapore. The exhibition catalogue consists of a dialogue between curators Szan Tan and Daniel Tham in which they noted that – with reference to Cheong Soo Pieng’s untitled work depicting the Singapore River scene – as “symbolic”. Daniel Tham elaborates in his discussion:

“Perhaps it’s symbolic for them. Even though they probably didn’t arrive at the Singapore River when they first came to Singapore, yet the River symbolised this entry point to Singapore. In addition, it was the commercial heart of activity in Singapore as a port and in terms of its entreport trade. So for the artists, perhaps as new immigrants settling in Singapore, the Singapore River represented that new beginning and their entry into this new world. We are, after all, concerned with the artists’ attempts at capturing the new worlds they were settling in, and the Singapore River is emblematic of that, as you point out.”¹⁹

In this show, there are depictions of the Singapore River by Yong Mun Sen, Kuo Ju Ping and Tan Choon Ghee created between 1946 and 1977, demonstrating the significance of the river particularly to the Nanyang artists.

Another pivotal exhibition titled Siapa Nama Kamu? Art in Singapore Since the 19th Century, which uses six broad themes – Tropical Tapestry; Nanyang Reverie; Real Concerns; New Languages; Tradition Unfettered; and Shifting Grounds – document significant moments of art development and is currently on display at the newly opened National Gallery Singapore.

8. Perspectives
Cultural observer Kwok Kian Chow explained that the term Nanyang was initially used to describe literary theme:

“The term was a generic one which was used to characterise the subject matter of such writings, Nanyang Style did not denote a specific aesthetic paradigm as did notions of linguistic vernacularism (as in the May Fourth Movement), Social Realism or aestheticism. In the late1920s and 1930s, some proponents of the Nanyang Style associated writing with the articulation of a Nanyang/Overseas Chinese identity and took the literary discourse even further to deal with the larger social issue of a Nanyang regionalist culture.”²⁰

In Kevin Chua’s writing, he highlights the progress of Nanyang Art in the generation after 1950s whereby members of the Equator Art Society criticised the works of their predecessors:

“In raising the banner of social realism, the painters of the Equator Art Society rejected the so called “Western” post-Impressionist abstraction of the generation that preceded them.”²¹

9. Beyond Malaysia and Singapore
The regional dynamism of cultural transformation extends beyond the borders of Malaysia and Singapore. Though these artists may not have attended NAFA or are not directly associated with Nanyang artists, they are either settlers or children of Chinese migrants who have made the Southern Seas their home and have adapted to the social conditions.

Among some of these artists include Lee Man Fong (Singapore) – curator and advisor to President Soekarno’s art collection from 1961 to 1965 – and Lim Wasim who are both Palace Artists and are responsible for the compilation of a five-volume edition of the presidential art collection, resided in Indonesia. In the Philippines, Ang Kiukok painted the realities of an oppressed time – people living in squalor, domesticated animals such as dogs and roosters while confronting these desolations through his faith in Christianity in Cubist and Surrealist manner – a distinctive style of painting termed figurative expressionism by many. In Myanmar, U Aung Twin is a prolific artist, educator and a traditional dance choreographer whose paintings and sculptures of Buddha images and Ramayana figures gained him prominence. In Vietnam, Doi Ngoan Quan is known for his calligraphy besides watercolour, seal and microcarvings.

10. Nanyang Art Today
The spirit of Nanyang aestheticism still prevails today in the works of Khoo Sui Hoe, Seah Kim Joo and Ong Kim Seng as presented in this exhibition. Other artists who are actively creating in this style include Lim Ah Cheng, Lee Long Looi, Keng Seng Choo, Tay Mo Leong, Eng Tay, Tay Chee Toh, to name a few. Artists who were born after the Malayan independence and continue to paint local landscapes in Western manner are the likes of Chang Fee Ming, Peter Liew and Lui Cheng Thak, although they may not exclusively label their artistic approach as “Nanyang Style”, which leads us to ponder the future and relevance of the Nanyang Style today especially after the 1980s when younger artists’ concerns have shifted to challenge the idea of identity in their works.

Link to pdf