Wei-Ling Gallery’s annual 18@8 exhibitions have always been highly anticipated as they bring to the forefront a selection of the country’s most compelling and interesting artists all working within the perimeters of a theme or the exploration of an idea but more importantly allows them the freedom to experiment and encourages them to think out of the box.

The 18@8 series is now into it’s ninth edition after its inaugural debut in 2005 which featured 18 artists at No.8 Jalan Scott (the Gallery’s address).

In 2006 the second installment of 18@8 KUL-KHI was presented at the Amin Gulgee Gallery in Karachi, Pakistan while 2007 saw the exhibition back on home soil. In the following two years the exhibition took on a new twist. 18@8-Vice and Virtue in 2008 saw nine selected artists creating two works each corresponding to one vice and one virtue. In 2009, 18@8 1Malaysia:Beyond the Canvas the artists were asked to express themselves outside the confines of the canvas to document their ideas of what 1Malaysia stands for through a central ‘transportation’ theme. Absolut 18@8 saw the artists working on Absolut bottles which were then auctioned off in aid of the SPCA and the following year the gallery and artists worked with IDN to raise RM90,000 for ACRES through the sale of 18 Robonut toys.

This year the gallery will only be working with 12 selected artists in a collaboration with FURLA, the Italian premium leather goods and fashion accessories brand, who will be providing 12 of their coveted Candy Bags to the artists to work on. These ‘art’ bags will go up for auction in December 2013.

For this year’s 18@8 Mirror, Mirror on the wall the main idea stems from the state of the world today and how social media has changed people and the way they view themselves.

The idea or concept of narcissism all began with the Greek myth of Narcissus who in a nutshell, was so enamored by his own reflection in the water, eventually bringing upon his death, as a result of him being completely unable to take his eyes off of himself.

In the world that we are living in today with the rise and growth of social media and networking, narcissism or traits tied to seem ever more prevalent in most individuals. It seems like we’ve come to a point where self-validation is achieved through one’s popularity on social networking sites and forums. One particular study has even presented the fact that, “young people are just completely convinced that in order to succeed they have to believe in themselves or go all the way to being narcissistic”.

To this end each artist has been asked to explore the idea of self-love (be it narcissism: egotism, vanity, pride, selfishness, grandiosity, erotic gratification derived from admiration of one’s own physical or mental attributes, self-adornment, obsession with perfection, acceptance from one’s peers, the list goes on) and come up with one major work which would reflect this theme.

This year’s list of 18@8 artists are:
Ivan Lam, Anurendra Jegadeva, Choy Chun Wei, Yau Bee Ling, Wong Chee Meng, Hamidi Hadi, Azliza Ayob, Ilham Fadlym, Zulkilfi Yusoff, Sean Lean, Cheng Yen Pheng, Kim Ng

With support from FURLA, SNAPPERS and Alexis

About FURLA
An Italian family-owned company founded by the Furlanetto family in 1927, Furla is one of the major players in the worldwide leather goods market. With the heritage of 86 years, the company currently distributes to 91 countries, through 328 single brand boutiques of which 153 owned stores, more than 1200 points of sales in department stores and specialized stores and 5 subsidiaries in the USA, France, Japan, Hong Kong and Korea, as well as online through its own e-boutique.
Furla DNA is expressed through the values of Italian craftsmanship, its distinctive creativity, quality and timeless elegance. Simplicity and uniqueness, femininity and modernity are blended in a highly original balance.

The exhibition will take place at the Gardens gallery from 3rd December 2013-16th January 2014.
18@8 Mirror Mirror on the wall, features at Wei-Ling Contemporary at The Gardens Mall from 3rd December 2013-16th January 2014.
Wei-Ling Contemporary is located at G212&213A Ground Floor, The Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur 59200, Malaysia.
Please call 0322601106/0322828323 or email weiling.shaz@gmail.com for more information.
Wei-Ling Contemporary is open Daily from 10am-9pm. Admission is free.