ABOUT THE ARTISTS

ANURENDRA JEGADEVA (B.1965)

Anurendra Jegadeva is regarded as one of Malaysia’s leading contemporary artists for his poetic yet provocative socio-political works. A narrative artist and a painter of stories, he believes in the enduring power of the painted image, and has worked consistently to forge an effective approach to contemporary and historical themes. Based in both Malaysia and Australia, his works stem from a personal experience of, and response to his subject – be it the post-colonial realities of multi-cultural Malaysia, Asian immigrant life in Australia, or the war in Iraq on his TV screen, Anurendra Jegadeva deftly weaves an autobiographical layer into the complex realities he seeks to capture.

Through a diversified body of work, he examines the ironies in contemporary life and probes the issue of cultural integration vis-à-vis the fusion of modern and traditional values. In the process, Anurendra Jegadeva employs a panoply of narrative tools – recurring motifs, colour symbolism, the framing devices of temple carvers and stained-glass makers, as well as comic book artists – the vocabulary of a multifarious existence.

Anurendra Jegadeva was one of four Malaysian artists to represent Malaysia at the country’s first ever National Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2019.

CHOY CHUN WEI (B. 1973)

Choy Chun Wei expertly aligns fine art with graphic design, distinguishing his practice. Articulate and demanding, he constantly seeks self-development as an artist.

His multi-layered collage works are tactile and tense, inviting dialogue. Moving from country to city shifted his perception of space, suffocated by giant structures and light pollution, shifting his use of materials and elevating material culture in his practice, demanding a more honest seeing, selection and handling of materials. A dialogue ensues upon his canvas, each piece’s complex and layered surfaces offering fresh openings for contemplation. Aided by words and fonts, courtesy of his graphic design days at Central Saint Martins, this dialogue creates a design edge as well as serving subliminal, personal messages.

In 2014, Choy Chun Wei achieved a significant milestone as the only Malaysian artist to present a solo booth, titled ‘The Human Landscapes‘, at Art Basel Hong Kong under the ‘Insights’ sector. Visitors became not just observers but also active participants, with their personal information rendered as art. This approach elevated the human element and momentarily silenced the deafening roar of technology. Choy Chun Wei emphasises the complexity and paradoxes found in life’s fragmented nature by constantly pushing boundaries. He skilfully demonstrates the transition of identity into simple numbers and codes by grappling with both facts and states of mind, encouraging reflection on the developing essence of our very existence.

IVAN LAM WAI HOE (B. 1975)

Ivan Lam has established a name for himself as one of the most progressive contemporary artists in Malaysia. His commitment and unrelenting pursuit of his artistic journey have seen his works span a variety of mediums and ideas, which are inspired by popular culture, autobiography, current affairs and every day vistas. With each series, he has become a maestro of different mediums; silk-screen, acrylic and oil painting, resin and aluminium. In Ivan Lam’s practice, every layer of his work is imbued with a sense of purpose and meaning.

Charting new territory for over two decades, he has conquered painting through his trademark use of resin, adding technical ingenuity while transforming narrative into hyper-reality. His practice has evolved conceptually, questioning authorship, the role of the artist and the very nature of art itself.

Multiple solo and group exhibitions locally and abroad plus awards have ensured his work is in the collections of reputed institutions worldwide. He was the first and only Malaysian artist selected to present a one-man project at the inaugural Art Basel Hong Kong in 2013, and the first Malaysian artist commissioned by Louis Vuitton for its collection in 2014. In 2017, he was the only artist from Malaysia invited to create a project for the Karachi Biennale, followed two years later in 2019 by his participation in the 58th Venice Biennale, where he was one of four Malaysian artists representing the country’s first National Pavilion.

JOSHUA YANG (B. 1974)

Joshua Yang was born in 1974 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1994 he moved to Singapore and worked at reclamation sites in Tuas and the Jurong Islands, pouring sand into the sea. In 2003, while pursuing his Master of Fine Arts (Sculpture) at LASALLE College of the Arts, he founded the art collective, ‘vertical submarine’, which has been active in the local and international art scene. In 2005, he won first prize in the UOB Painting of the Year for the Abstract category. Other awards include the coveted Credit Suisse Artist Residency Award 2009, The President’s Young Talents Award 2009 and the Singapore Art Show Judges’ Choice 2005.

His drawings began to receive attention when he completed a forty-eight hour drawing marathon in 2007. His works, which are predominantly site-specific time-based drawings employing a single-continuous line have been featured in local and regional Biennales including the Singapore Biennale 2008 and the Dojima River Biennale 2009 (Osaka). He has received commissions from public institutions as well as private collectors for his work. These include the Bishop’s quarters in Malaysia, Marymount MRT station in Singapore and the Dojima Performing Arts Theatre in Japan.

He has worked in various educational institutions teaching a variety of subjects from art history and theory to drawing and painting. He currently works with persons with autism at Pathlight School’s The Art Faculty and teaches oil painting at Yale-NUS College. He has completed projects in Spain, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, The Philippines, Mexico City, Australia and Germany.

RAJINDER SINGH (B. 1964)

Rajinder Singh works from his studios in Dublin and London. His paintings, installations, photography, video and performance works explore ideas around the vulnerable body and its pain, interrogating the economies of power that deny it space and shape. Often focused on the power of ritual action in the construction of the social body, his practice explores the ways the human body unfolds around various topographic and symbolic borders. Rajinder displayed intrigue with the gestures, movements, and rhythms of ritual practices in South Asia, as well as the scarred fragmented bodies and healing, embracing unities they produced.

With a doctorate in engineering and a master’s in fine arts, he was recently shortlisted for both the prestigious Golden Fleece Award and EVA International Biennale 2022. He was earlier part of Tulca Festival of Arts in 2020 as well as Tulca 2019 and is the recipient of several awards for his sculptures and movement-based work. His sculptures were shown as part of the year-long exhibition ‘Narrow Gate’ at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in 2021/22.

Recipient of substantial bursaries from the Arts Council of Ireland for his body-based movement oriented work, Rajinder has been commissioned for new work by various museums and art festivals in Ireland. He is a guest artist/choreographer at the Irish World Academy, Maynooth University, University College Dublin. His work is part of the national arts collections in both IMMA and the Arts Council of Ireland. Rajinder is also founder of the contemporary art review magazine Drenched Reviews.

SEAN LEAN (B. 1981)

Sean Lean’s work unapologetically grapples with fragmented identities, East versus West, tradition versus popular culture. National history is explored with characteristic introspection and humour, carefully tracing regional socio-political and religious tensions.

Dissecting identity, history, and ways of being forms a thread running through his work. He has similarly examined what it means to be Chinese, questioning its criteria as it shifts and dilutes through the generations. Lean continues this narrative albeit with a guiltless sense of play in these recent times. More experimental and metaphorical, he plays with colour and materiality using steel and unexpected palettes, all while tying his subject matter back to his disparate cultural upbringing. In his process, the artist leans toward ‘industrial’ methods akin to techniques used in automotive painting. This is a deliberate statement in favour of exploring the use of ‘mechanised’ methods more reflective of our present time.

In 2018, he was one of six artists commissioned internationally for the project Rare Stripes – a garment collection inspired by true stories of the wild tiger. His Kamrita, its three pairs of paw prints in different colours, conveys beautifully the Himalayan tigress with her two cubs padding silently through the forest. Kamrita endured for years as “WWF’s adopted tiger and a symbol of hope for her whole species”. Harper’s Bazaar also commissioned his special cover for Bazaar Art (2017).

WONG CHEE MENG (B. 1975)

An accident that left him with permanent vision damage brings us Wong Chee Meng’s blurred view of the world, at once layered and complex while mysterious, the multiple layers of painted images hiding secret stories yet creating harmonious compositions with meanings deep beneath the surface. Now a forte, his unique vision investigates image-making through additive and subtractive transformation, weaving delicate forms that fade into an absolution of colour chains. For him, art is omnipresent. His paintings, rich in symbolism and fable, often combined with paper cut and stencil, respond to social issues and cultural interventions that play on his subconscious.

By hiding key elements within the multiple layers of his paintings, the artist skillfully invites the audience to slowly reveal them. Inspired by colour theories, he applied the ‘anaglyph 3D’ effect to his artworks, encoding one image to one coloured filter, resulting in a painting with three different images. Notably, he stands as the first Malaysian artist to use AR (augmented reality), showcasing the layers through this technology.

Represented in numerous local and international art platforms, Wong Chee Meng’s work blends Contemporary Pop with Social Realism. Selected as artist in residence at the Mali Hom Residency in Penang (2007) he represented Malaysia at an art exposition in Havana Cuba (2006). His works are found widely in both private and public institutions including in the collections of Axiata, Rimbun Dahan, ABN Amro Bank, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Visual Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

YAU BEE LING (B. 1972)

One of Malaysia’s foremost painters, Yau Bee Ling’s 25-year career is a deeply personal commentary on women’s complex roles in contemporary society. Her own experience forms the basis for her symbolism and autobiographical themes, especially the conflict of responsibilities brought about by shifting female identities from woman, wife to mother. Family and community ties engage her inner self in a complex tango between duty and independence, hope and fear, success and failure. She explores the question of meaning within this context, probing existential questions, pondering, finally, her own legacy.

Each series of paintings is charged with its own distinctive energy, reflective of her state of mind, her emotional wellbeing and the way she perceives her place in the world at the time. Her works are therefore a cathartic process for her as she struggles to reconcile the meaning of life, through the layering and scraping back of paint and colour, navigating her way through the twisting terrain of her paintings in the search for truth.

Bee Ling has exhibited extensively in exhibitions across China, Pakistan, Sweden, Singapore, Bangladesh, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia and represented Malaysia at the Asian Art Biennale in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1999 and at the Fukuoka Triennale in 2002. Her collection is also at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of The Arts, Taipei, Taiwan, where she was Kuandu Artist in Residence at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei in 2016. Her works are in the permanent collections of numerous private and public collections including Mulpha, Maxis Berhad and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.