Wei-Ling Gallery celebrates it’s tenth year in September 2012 and to commemorate it’s decade in existence they have lined up an exciting list of exhibitions and will be publishing a book entitled, ‘A Decade of Collecting’, to mark it’s milestone year.

Wei-Ling Gallery, was set up by Lim Wei-Ling and Yohan Rajan in 2002 to showcase the works of Malaysian contemporary artists.

The gallery is located in a pre-war building in the edgy yet distinctive suburb of Brickfields. This area is one of the oldest settlements of Kuala Lumpur and is home to many residences, commercial entities and religious structures of different denominations.

The building is a historical and architectural landmark in itself as after it was razed by a fire in 2004, it was re-constructed by the award-winning architect, Jimmy Lim to house both Jimmy Lim Design (JLD) and the gallery. The refurbishment of the building garnered an architectural award for its innovation in adaptive re-use.

The focus of the gallery is to bring the best of contemporary art with a focus on Malaysian art, to the public and to share with art lovers and collectors alike artworks by some of the country’s most cutting-edge artists. The gallery’s program changes monthly and it has a large stockroom of works by their stable of artists on constant rotation.The gallery also represents foreign artists of international repute and has worked with revered Cuban artist Nelson Dominguez, the renowned Pakistani sculptor Amin Gulgee, celebrated Australian artist Stewart MacFarlane, the ground-breaking photographic works of Michal Macku and most recently hosted Indian maestro Paresh Maity’s first solo exhibition in Malaysia.

To encourage a better understanding of how and what to collect the gallery also places emphasis on educational talks and art investment and consultancy services and has advised on and procured major artworks for both private collectors and public institutions since its inception. The gallery is also the largest publisher of art books in Malaysia with over 80 titles to their name and has worked closely with numerous corporate sponsors, including UOB Bank, HSBC, Hong Leong Bank, Nipponpaint, Absolut Vodka, Bombay Sapphire and Siemens who have supported them in several projects over the years.

From 2006, Wei-Ling Gallery embarked on a bolder approach in bringing Malaysian contemporary art and the works of their represented artists to an international platform and has since taken exhibitions to Pakistan, India, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. They have also participated in international art fairs being one of the first Malaysian galleries to do so.

In 2011, the gallery opened Wei-Ling Contemporary, their second space in Kuala Lumpur at The Gardens Mall. The new gallery serves as a satellite space and complements the gallery’s flagship in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

Wei-Ling Contemporary aims to bring down the barriers on art to make it more accessible to the public at large. To this end it has been creating more interactive events and exhibitions which reach out to a broader audience, as well as offer talks by artists and art professionals on topics which range from the thought processes of an artist; “What is contemporary art”? “Is art an Investment”? to “How to start an art collection”.

Wei-Ling Contemporary will be an art space with a difference as it brings real art by serious artists into the consciousness of Malaysians and allows people to see contemporary art from a new perspective.

Over the last ten years Wei-Ling Gallery has held more than 100 exhibitions at both at it’s galleries in Malaysia and at exhibitions spaces abroad.

In September 2012, two major group exhibitions by some of the country’s finest Malaysian artists will take place concurrently at the gallery’s two venues – Wei-Ling Gallery in Brickfields and their second gallery space, Wei-Ling Contemporary at The Gardens Mall.

A Decade of Collecting
To commemorate ten years in the industry the gallery with the support of United Overseas Bank Malaysia will be publishing a book entitled “A Decade of Collecting”.

This is a hard cover 200 page tome that will document some of the most important artworks that have been made over the decade (2002-2012) and highlights the development of the local art scene over the last ten years.

As a gallery in Malaysia, where there has not been much government support for the arts we have taken the initiative to make things happen, to create an environment which is stimulating for artists and collectors alike. In many ways we have taken on the role of a public institution much like a museum or a national gallery to promote art to the people of Malaysia to encourage them to appreciate and understand it.

This book is testament to our commitment to developing art in Malaysia as we want to show Malaysians and the world the spectacular artworks that have been produced by artists in the country.

As Asian Art is taking centre stage now we have invited some of the most influential and important writers and thinkers of Asian art to write essays to accompany the book. This book will serve as an important tool for collectors and people interested in contemporary Malaysian art as it is a comprehensive look at how the Malaysian art scene has developed over the last 10 years and our gallery’s role in that development.

Most importantly, it will provide a thorough overview of the Malaysian art scene-it’s most significant artists, the major artworks that have been created and how contemporary art has developed in Malaysia over the last ten years.

Now is the time for Asian art and the next 100 years will be a great milestone for Asia.”A Decade of Collecting” will be one of the most important books on Malaysian art for decades to come.

Bright Young Things
Part of the “Decade of Collecting” exhibition showing concurrently at Wei-Ling Gallery and Wei-Ling Contemporary

The second exhibition ‘Bright Young Things’ highlights 10 Malaysian artists that the gallery has identified as forming the next generation of contemporary Malaysian artists. The ten artists in this group have been shortlisted for their commitment to their practice, who have displayed their integrity as artists, and who seem ready to take on the world. There is no specific theme for this exhibition but each artist has been asked to present a work which best demonstrates his/her strength as an artist and possesses both an interesting aesthetic as well as a strong intellectual content.

This exhibition will be particularly motivating for the artists and viewers as the works of each artist will need to stand on it’s ownwhen put up against the works of their contemporaries.

The final list of artists will only be unveiled during the exhibition.