The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion |
| Posted: Here's an exhibition that takes figurative art to an imaginative new level. WHAT could you say about the human figure? That figures come in all shapes and sizes and colours? What else is there to say about something so basic? It takes artists to see the extraordinary in what is basic to life itself, to bring forth the wonderful lines and shapes and dimensions of the human figure, to remind us that if we pay enough attention, there is beauty in both the minute and macro details of the shape of a human being. And for one whole month, such will be the focal point of G13 Gallery's latest exhibition. Aptly named Figurative Trajectories, the exhibition will feature artworks by seven young up-and-coming local artists: C.K. Koh, Chong Kim Chiew, Gan Tee Seng, Seah Zelin, Siund Tan, Sun Kang Jye, and Yeoh Choo Kuan. Interestingly, the curatorial direction of this exhibition is not purely figurative art but with a stroke of imaginative art as well. On top of that, though figures may be the thread that holds the exhibition together, there is no one super-theme that was dictated by the gallery to the seven artists. Gallery director Kenny Teng said in a recent interview, "We did not want to restrict the artists by giving them a specific theme for the exhibition. All of them have their own styles and they were free to produce artworks within their styles."  Zelin Seah's series of four artworks was triggered by his feelings about the 13th General Election. Such diverse styles they are! From the moment you walk into the exhibition space, you will be able to relish the different strokes of paint, the varied interpretation of figures, the abstract and sometimes the bizarre pieces that may not come across as clearly as some of the other artworks. But then again, when did art exhibitions ever spell it out for visitors? It is the experience that is paramount. One of the pieces that stands out to this writer is Mad Rush by Yeoh Choo Kuan. The biggest work of the lot, the painting is shades of grey, black and white and features several ghoulish looking figures that look uncannily like the Nazgul from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The white figures evoke a sense of other worldliness when you look at them, almost transporting you to a realm of the dread wraiths. "The main idea was to capture the life, the death, and the love and the sex between the figures," says Yeoh. "For me, when I delve into expressive paintings, I don't usually have a particular message I want to work with and bring forth. I normally allow my feelings to influence me, and I derive these feelings from my surroundings, my friends, my family, the news that I see and read." But why call it Mad Rush? "I think it's mad because every single person on this planet is by him or herself yet we are all somehow connected. And at the end of it all, when death comes a calling, we all, each and everyone of us, become nothingness," the 25-year-old says.  C.K. Koh's whimsical Tears Are Falling. While his emotions and the people in his life influenced Yeoh's paintings, it was the 13th general election earlier this year that became the inspiration for artist Zelin Seah, 33. A lecturer at The One Academy, Seah offers a series of four paintings representing different aspects of his mind before and after the elections. "I took the idea from the four steps of making comics: opening, developing, changing and summing. Each phase represents my state of mind during the election period. For example, the last piece alludes to the fact that this is not the end of the story. The elections may be over but it is not the end," explains Seah. Though furniture and windows formed an integral part of the paintings, one would notice that for a figurative artwork, the four scenes are devoid of human figures. Seah says he wanted to create scenes akin to a crime scene investigation, with the "messy interiors, liquefied fragments and growing motion – I believe this is stronger in revealing the existence of figures and their behaviour." Another apparent element in Seah's set is the presence of white smoke or gas. This represents the uncertainty in himself, indeed, in all Malaysians alike, in the lead up to, during and after the elections. Gallery director Teng promises a truly different experience for the visitors as "not only will they be able to see the works of emerging young artists in Malaysia, but they will also be able to view the different artistic styles and approaches of these artists and learn to appreciate them. After all, these young artists are the future of the country's art scene." Figurative Trajectories is on till Sept 17 at G13 Gallery, Ground Floor, Block B, Kelana Square, Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya, Selangor. Viewing hours are from 11am to 5pm (closed on public holidays); entry is free. For more information, go to g13gallery.com, e-mail info@g13gallery.com or call 03-7880 0991 / 03-7880 0313. |
| Posted: Let me entertain you, let me make you smile. Let me do a few tricks, some old and some new tricks. I'm very versatile! Theatre fans will probably recognise these as lines from Let Me Entertain You from Gypsy, a popular musical by renowned American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. They are also an apt summary of Side By Side By Side By Sondheim, a musical revue recently staged by Pan Productions in Kuala Lumpur. The show proved to be a winning combination of Sondheim's magical music with the voices popular musical theatre performers. Based on the popular revue Side By Side By Sondheim, the production featured Aaron Khaled, Alizakri Alias, Joshua Gui, Nell Ng, Peter Ong, Stephanie Van Driesen, Tria Aziz and Zalina Lee. The show was directed by Ng, with musical accompaniment by Nish Tham. Side By Side By Side opened with Ng performing The Worst Pies In London, from the musical Sweeney Todd. After some banter and a light-hearted introduction to the cast, audience members were treated to a showcase of songs from many popular Sondheim productions such as West Side Story, Into The Woods, Anyone Can Whistle and the movie, Dick Tracy. The cast member were magnificent, technically and emotionally. Aaron was particularly impressive with his beautiful rendition of Losing My Mind from Follies, while van Driesen and Gui's lovely voices complemented each other nicely on the duet No One Is Alone. The production was light-hearted and fun throughout, with Ng telling humorous anecdotes about the performers in between songs. One of the show's most memorable moments was the performance of Getting Married Today. The song, known for its rapid-fire, tongue-twisting lyrics, is not an easy one to perform, but van Driesen did a capable job of it, performing with a perfect poker face to boot. Adding to the hilarity were backup vocals by Aaron, Ong and Tria, who all donned habits to perform as a trio of nuns! Equally hilarious was Everybody Ought To Have A Maid, which saw the male cast members donning blonde wigs and feather dusters. The show's emotional highlight, however, was Send In The Clowns, from A Little Night Music. Stirring and emotional, Lee's heartfelt rendition of this jazz standard brought tears to quite a few audience members' eyes. Other wonderful performances (and there were a lot to choose from) were Children Will Listen performed by Tria and the ensemble, Somewhere by Alizakri, and Not While I'm Around by Ong. The show ended with an encore of Old Friends (from Merrily We Roll Along), which saw all performers on stage for a tap dance number. While their footwork was slightly uncoordinated, the ensemble's high spirits and energy more than made up for it, as evidenced by riotous audience applause and a standing ovation at the end. |
| Posted: Can you measure something you can't hold? A group exhibition offers food for thought. IF one were to take Lai Chan Shiang's whimsical Free To Love at face value, love is riding a goldfish in the sky towards a puffy white cloud. How fantastical this sounds ... and yet, somehow, it feels like something we can all identify with. Inspired by cloud-gazing in New Zealand while there on a nine-month working holiday, the Malaysian artist comments that love "acts as a stimulant in our lives" and wields much power in determining whether life is sweet or bitter. Lai is one of the participating artists in the group show currently on at Wei-Ling Contemporary at The Gardens Mall in Kuala Lumpur. The exhibition's theme, Measuring Love, is as broad as it gets. For something as intangible and fleeting as this emotion, love has certainly made quite a name for itself. It has been described as the greatest emotion of all, it takes on many guises, and it is said to bring out the best and the worst in people. It is sometimes a mystery, sometimes a validation, and other times an inconvenience.  Love is riding a goldfish in the sky towards a puffy white cloud? Free To Love is Lai Chan Shiang's fantastical and whimsical take on the emotion he says 'wields much power in determining whether life is sweet or bitter'. "What is love" topped the list of most-searched phrase on Google last year. We do seem rather interested in love, or at the very least, what it is! Gallery director Lim Wei-Ling poses a question when we speak to her about the exhibition's theme: "How do you measure love?" she asks. "Can you even measure love? I think we are all quite naïve when it comes to love. We assume we know what love is, it is maybe something many of us take for granted, but what is love? I think these are questions that all human beings invariably ask themselves at some point." The 11 participating artists – mostly in their 20s and early 30s – might or might not be asking the same questions, but the results on canvas are as varied as the theme is broad. Cheng Yen Pheng's Airball No. 14 – The Unbearable Lightness Of Being takes on the form of a balloon. Like love, the risk of the balloon deflating is very real; it is only a matter of time before its life draws to an end. "I portray love as fleeting, haphazard and perhaps based on endless strings of coincidences, despite holding such significance for humans. The balloon can be so full of air one moment, but it will always end, however beautiful it is," she says. While she concedes that love does make life interesting and has the capacity to make her feel "powerful like a big balloon", it eventually ends, sometimes "with a bang", other times "very slowly ... and fills me up with sadness".  Unspoken by Anisa Abdullah. A stark contrast to Cheng's bright and bouncy balloon with its bittersweet undertones is Hoo Kiew Hang's Two Sages. Depicted in black and white, this artwork is a continuation of his Paradise Of Gods series. It features his take on the Buddha and Jesus Christ, and radiates peace and love – feelings that the artist considers the "most true, good and beautiful". Winged-creatures soar in Two Sages, lending a carefree feel to the artwork. Hoo, who shares that he is an atheist, comments that these two sages from different times represent different things to him: "Buddha to me represents 'big love' and Jesus, 'compassion'. I am interested in gaining an understanding of the philosophical thoughts of saints, thus I created this artwork of two saints travelling through space and time together on a spiritual cultivation," he says. These works are but the tip of the iceberg. Among others, Ruzzeki Harris presents his child's nine-month journey in the womb with a series of ultrasound images simply entitled 9 Months; Sean Lean explores the kind of love bound by kinship, one that is "complex, real and ultimately imperfect" with a painting of his father in White Father; Cheong Kiet Cheng's A Thousand Love shows a couple prancing around amidst animals and blooms; and Delphine Saira Gomez takes an introspective look at the "merging" of multifaceted "love" in Journey Beyond The Clouds. Lim is ecstatic that the artists have come up with such a range of responses to the subject matter. She shares that it was a deliberate move on the gallery's part in including young artists in this exhibition. "I wanted young, emerging artists to be in this group show. I thought it would be really interesting to inspire them with this theme, have them explore it and really get them thinking," she says. "You never really know what you are going to get, especially with a group show, and it is nice to see the different ways each artist has approached the subject. She believes that love is a basic requirement, something that we could all do with in our lives: "To love and be loved, it's the very essence of who we are as human beings," Lim concludes. Measuring Love is showing at Wei-Ling Contemporary, G212 and G213A, Ground Floor, The Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur, till Sept 10. The gallery is open daily from 10am to 9pm. For more information, visit weiling-gallery.com, call 017-887 7216 / 016-913 6252, e-mail weilingcontemporary@gmail.com. |
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