New Straits Times, 27 May 2009
365 Days in the life of an Artist
That is because there are 365 paintings displayed in his solo exhibition entitled “Malaysia: 365 days of 2008”.
The artist did one painting for each day last year.
The paintings are socio-political commentaries on the major events that occurred last year, and the personalities associated with them.
Each painting has a significant quote by these public figures.
“The paintings are my response to the important socio-political issues that arose in our country last year,” said Nor Azizan.
The exhibition was launched by Johor Baru member of parliament Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad.
Nor Azizan said he wanted to document what happened in 2008 in a creative way.
“There is immeasurable value in the information and incidents of past years and people tend to forget history,” he said.
“The paintings help people to see Malaysia’s socio-political issues in a different light.
“It is a way of taking serious issues and looking at them in a light-hearted way. I don’t believe in violence.
“Every day, I drew my response to the happenings of the previous day. The paintings were done on an Islamic diary,” he explained.
Nor Azizan said he used his vintage typewriter, ink and collage, ball-pen, watercolours and rubber stamps, among others, to create the paintings.
The Malacca-born artist received his art education in Malaysia and Britain.
He received a Master’s in Fine Arts from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2001.
His works have been exhibited in Malaysia as well as overseas since 1991.
The paintings will be exhibited until June 2. Admission is free.
The gallery is located at No 8, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.
It is open from noon to 7pm (Mondays to Fridays) and 10am to 5pm (Saturdays).
For details, call 03-2260 1106/7 or visit www.weiling@weiling-gallery.com.