This April and May, Wei-Ling Gallery presents Utopia, an exhibition featuring artists Haslin Ismail and Hee Chee Way.
United by a shared passion for sci-fi and fantasy, the two artists revel in their imaginations and present fabricated futurist worlds inhabited by strange and fantastical creatures.

In Utopia, their artworks suggest the possibility of these new and imaginary worlds. Whimsical creatures crawl across canvases by both artists, futuristic landscapes are depicted in paint and other materials, and notable artworks include Haslin’s installation of paper-cut outs where cardboard boxes and books are deconstructed and given new life, and, Chee Way’s hand-printed photograph and paint works, where familiar images are contrasted with fictitious ones, luring audiences to the realms of the surreal.

The exhibition presents a wonderful opportunity for the public to get acquainted with the works of two of the country’s most promising young artists.

Haslin (b.1984), recipient of the main prize at this year’s Young Contemporaries Award organized by the National Art Gallery of Malaysia, is known for his highly intricate works that weave together surreal and fantastical elements.

Chee Way (b.1980), on the other hand, held his first solo exhibition in 2009 and is one of the founding members of the highly experimental Findars art group. His works often fuse elements from photography and digital art with paintings and illustrations to create distinct artworks that flit between fantasy and reality.

Utopia has echoes of art’s Modern period when artists of the early twentieth-century contemplated the future in their artworks, and, the surrealist elements in Haslin and Chee Way’s works will undoubtedly draw audiences to the wonderful possibilities of art and imagination, as well as ask them to probe the world we live in today and to consider what may be in store for us in the future.

About Wei-Ling Gallery
Wei-Ling Gallery is housed in an award-winning building in the historic area of Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. Formerly known as Townhouse Gallery, it was set up by Lim Wei-Ling and Yohan Rajan in 2002 to showcase the best of contemporary Malaysian art.
Since its inception, the gallery has mounted exciting exhibitions including solos by Malaysia’s leading contemporary artists and the gallery’s steadfast commitment to promoting contemporary Malaysia art to the wider public is shown in the numerous publications it has produced, as well as its participation in international art events such as Art Stage Singapore and the China International Gallery Exposition (CIGE).

About Wei-Ling Contemporary
Wei-Ling Contemporary is Wei-Ling Gallery’s new space at The Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur.
Opened in April 2011, the gallery has already been busy with an exhibition calendar that has seen solo exhibitions like Ivan Lam’s Together Alone, Stewart MacFarlane’s Inheritance, and The Garden of Hidden Desires.
Wei-Ling Contemporary enriches the main gallery’s committed goal of reaching a wider public with contemporary art.

Utopia runs at Wei-Ling Gallery from April 5 – 28, continuing at Wei-Ling Contemporary from April 30 – May 28.