{"id":6122,"date":"2015-08-08T14:07:50","date_gmt":"2015-08-08T06:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/?post_type=portfolio&p=6122"},"modified":"2015-08-08T14:21:06","modified_gmt":"2015-08-08T06:21:06","slug":"entertainment-how-artists-paint-1malaysia-by-betty-lim","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/portfolio-item\/entertainment-how-artists-paint-1malaysia-by-betty-lim\/","title":{"rendered":"Entertainment: How artists paint 1Malaysia by Betty Lim"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New Straits Times, 30 December 2009
\nEntertainment: How artists paint 1Malaysia
\nby Betty Lim<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Thirteen artists give their take on 1Malaysia. The results are surprising, as BETTY LIM finds out.
\nEVER since the government spouted its 1Malaysia slogan, everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. The art scene is no different.<\/p>\n

Lim Wei Ling, the owner of Wei-Ling Gallery in Brickfields, thought it might be a fantastic idea to invite 13 artists to come up with their take on 1Malaysia. The artists were also given the challenge to include \u201ctransportation\u201d as the vehicle (no pun intended) that drives Malaysians together.<\/p>\n

They were free to choose their medium and were encouraged to go beyond the canvas to create works that went into the 3-dimensional sphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 18@8 is an annual exhibition which highlights some of the country\u2019s most contemporary artists\u201d.<\/p>\n

18 refers to the paintings and 8, to the gallery address in Jalan Scott.<\/p>\n

\"Sabri<\/a>

Sabri Idrus\u2019s The Spinner.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis year, each artist has been asked to examine unity and look for the deeper meaning of what it means to be Malaysian.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hoping that through the 1Malaysia, Beyond the Canvas exhibition, art collectors and enthusiasts will see the artists, whose works they thought they knew, in a different light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anurendra Jegadeva contributed two stunning pieces of work \u2014 the first one is a surreal painting of oil on canvas amidst a backdrop of a blue sky and white, fluffy clouds. The bright sky, trees and an aeroplane flying give the impression that everything is fine and dandy in Malaysia. The work is aptly entitled One Fine Day.<\/p>\n

But wait, there is also an FRU officer holding a pink coloured baton, smoke coming from a tear gas canister and an FRU truck placed in a corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell the artist merely paints his interpretation of a situation, often based on past experiences. You are free to read it any way you like,\u201d said Anurendra.<\/p>\n

His second piece was The People\u2019s Re-Education Bus and this time, the same FRU vehicle is featured, but in 3-D. Cut it open and you can see a girl on a swing, with the same blue sky and the same plane flying high.<\/p>\n

Anurendra said the Sri Jaya bus which served Klang Valley in the 1960s-1980s, shared the same chassis as the FRU truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrip away the shiny red tower, loud hailers, grilled windows and paint it blue, it is not so frightening anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Up and coming Chee Way\u2019s take on 1Malaysia is a mixed media presentation using a projector, computer graphics and jarring music. Entitled Imagination Driver, Chee\u2019s work is unusual as he has juxtaposed various images incongruously to form the many faces of Malaysian drivers, who have somehow become united by traffic jams. These faces are not in the least pretty. Instead, they epitomise the glazed look found in most Malaysians after eight hours at the workplace, struggling to get through traffic on their way home.<\/p>\n

Ivan Lam\u2019s We Destroy The Ones We Protect Most is another interesting piece because it has 144 matchbox cars that have been stripped off their paint and decals. The grey cars are lined up in three rows heading somewhere, illuminated by a strong fluorescent tube. It is reminiscent of a traffic jam in a Malaysian city on a dark and grey evening, except that all the cars share a colourless uniformity.<\/p>\n

\"Zulkifli<\/a>

Zulkifli Yusoff\u2019s Kereta Lembu, Lancha dan Bas on display<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cRegardless of race, religion, age and gender, we all drive, and that somehow unites us as one … as 1Malaysia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lam, who spent close to two months on the project, scoured shopping malls and toy shops for the cars. Later, he spent hours stripping paint off the cars, wearing out many pairs of gloves, not to mention inhaling dangerous fumes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA car denotes the driver\u2019s social status and lifestyle,\u201d he continues, \u201cso by stripping all the cars of their colours and identities, we can look upon ourselves truly as Malaysians.\u201d Coincidentally, Lam embossed a Malaysian name for every car, reflecting our unity in diversity.<\/p>\n

The starkness of grey was replicated in Sabri Idrus\u2019 The Spinner, which was basically a plain black, white and grey wheel using resin, fiberglass, metal and mirrors, mounted on the wall.<\/p>\n

To Sabri, a shape can take on different forms and functions if put in different spaces. His spinner could be a piece of art in an art gallery but a toy in a playground. It could also bring to mind an umbrella seen from above. His work is interactive in the sense that the audience is invited to spin the wheel to see the effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI designed my work in such a way that there is no right or wrong way to view it. You may see that less is actually more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabri also associated the wheel with time and distance, just like the cogs in a timepiece. \u201cWhat happens when the clock stops? Is it the end? Or does time continue on, regardless?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabri\u2019s view on Malaysian unity is shared by veteran artist Zulkifli Yusoff who reminisces about life in the 1960s when things were simpler and kinder. His Kereta Lembu, Lancha dan Bas has motifs of bus tickets and hearts and there are retro photographs of buses, rickshaws and bullock carts in small towns.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs children, when we were travelling in a bus, we would give up our seats for the elderly and the pregnant, regardless of race,\u201d he said, adding that, \u201cwe were already united in those days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to have patriotic songs and agricultural programmes that united us and we did not look at each other as Malay, Chinese or Indian,\u201d he said, giving a more recent example in his own tutelage of his pupil, Liew.<\/p>\n

This fascinating exhibition at the Wei-Ling Gallery, 8, Jalan Scott, Brickfields (near the YMCA) is on till Jan 10 2010. Call 03-2260-1106, 2260-1107 and 012-302-5302 for more details.<\/p>\n

\"Chee<\/a>

Chee Way\u2019s take on 1Malaysia is a juxtaposition of images.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Straits Times, 30 December 2009 Entertainment: How artists paint 1Malaysia by Betty Lim Thirteen artists give their take on 1Malaysia. The results are surprising, as BETTY LIM finds out. EVER since the government spouted its 1Malaysia slogan, everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. The art scene is no different. Lim Wei Ling, [...]","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[17],"class_list":["post-6122","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","hentry","portfolio_entries-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/6122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/6122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6123,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/6122\/revisions\/6123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6122"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/contemporary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=6122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}