‘Artists dream realities, forming a continuum, altering the sensibility of mankind, emerging from and returning to human perception, enlarging human awareness with new ways of experiencing the universe.’​
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Syed Ahmad Jamal (1929-2011)
National Art Laureate Malaysia
RHB Bank held their inaugural exhibition Art with Heart: Images of Life sometime late last year. Graciously hosted by the National Art Gallery of Malaysia, the exhibition was a success in terms of publicity, reception and sales. Encouraged by the positive results of their initiative, RHB Bank returns with another exhibition in its Art with Heart series with a theme Act of Kindness. This year’s showing at the bank’s headquarters at Jalan Tun Razak presents a unique ensemble of works by various art practitioners specialising in the representational, semi abstraction, abstract expressionism and contemporary approaches. It features a number of midcareer artists along with established names: Long Thien Shih, S. Amin Shahab, Calvin Chua, Ng Foo Cheong, Azman Hilmi, Hamdan Shaarani, Zainal Abidin Musa, Zaharin Mohamad, Kim Ng, Ismadi Sallehuddin, Norlisham Selamat and Alex Chung. A good number of the young upcoming too are represented by Cheong Tuck Wai, Mark Tan, Syahrul Niza Zaini, Badruddin Shah, Agnes Lau, Jasmine Cheong, Joy Ng and Shiela Samsuri. The diverse range of style and practices displays the uniqueness in the way each of the artists views the world, themselves and their place in it. Besides the larger number of participations, this year’s exhibition will also be noted for its inclusion of metal, bronze and wood sculptures by Chin Wan Kee, Shafee Ramli, Vong Nyam Chee and Liu Cheng Hua. Sculpture making is not a popular practice in this country and to have these four Malaysian sculptors’ works in this exhibition is indeed a rare treat. Adding to the mix are the urban contemporary art of Donald Abraham and Abdul Rashade, both of whom are well-known graffiti artists. The hand-printed photographs in the exhibition were produced by Melbourne-based Malaysian photographer Khaw Soon Hoe, while Chuah Thean Teng, Malaya’s first National Painter who pioneered turning batik into a form of modern art, is ably represented by his grandson Chuah Seong Leng, who submitted three modern batik art pieces for this exhibition.
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The idea behind the exhibition is to provide a platform for art practitioners to share their labour of love with the corporation’s valued clients as well as the general public. A meaningful percentage from each sale of work will go to benefit the bank’s charities of choice. The initiative by RHB Bank is timely and highly welcomed as there are now more new practitioners coming into the local art scene every year. The country has never had a shortage of artists. What is needed now more than ever is art buyers and art lovers. ​
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One often hears the adage that business and art do not mix. Yet history proves this not to be the case. The Florentine and Flemish merchants commissioned painters and sculptors to enrich their environment and enhance the prestige of their business and cities. Art is one way of building a quality image.’
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Syed Ahmad Jamal
Art making is a laborious process. It involves time, energy and money to produce something that may or may not have ready takers. Art making is always a gamble for the artist who first and foremost, must produce something that is different, personal and well made. The idea that art must be beautiful and attractive is secondary as practitioners are trained to express the personal. Their ‘job’ is to express their views, observations and reactions about something; be it an idea, a subject matter, a situation or an issue is that close or meaningful to them. This may be done in a particular style, approach or form. It is the emphasis on aspects that make us individually distinct and unique that separates an artist from a craftsman who tends to make and create things for the masses. The idea of being an ‘Artist’ has come a long way since the time when art practitioners were merely artisans regarded as on par with craftsmen who laboured in the service of the religious establishments while they were living and working in temples and monasteries. They would later branch out to serve secular patrons and be given lodging at their patrons’ residences for the duration of their service. For many generations, royals, aristocrats and merchants were providers of stable employment and regular commission work. As artist-in-residence, they painted portraits of their patron’s family members, decorated the surroundings and whatever else that was expected of their artisanal skills to bring joy and prestige to their patrons’ homes. It wasn’t until the late 18th and early 19th century, the so-called Romantic era that the artist emerged as a Bohemian-individualist type who, against tradition and industry, claimed to make ‘Art’ for its own sake.
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‘There is a need for poesies and praxis in society. Society needs to express itself through various means. Art is the clearest reflection of the human condition - its tension and directions. It provides balance in values.’​
Syed Ahmad Jamal
Art is not craft though it involves a high level of craftsmanship and sophistication. The main difference between craft and art is both simple and clear. The forms and shapes of craft usually follow specific inherited functions both utilitarian and decorative. But the visual arts after the Romantic period emerged and broke out to celebrate individual liberty, boundless imagination and even revolutionary politics. The handful of recurring motifs, patterns and symbols in traditional craft serve as timeless metaphors for a particular worldview held by a specific culture or ethnicity. Art, on the other hand, strives to transcend inherited practices, habits, clichés and even the recognizable to arrive at something original, universal or never even seen before. Traditional craft is an expression of collective identity, cultural practices and value systems. It does not represent the outlook, state of mind and emotions of an individual in a society. There is no such thing as a ‘sad’ songket, an ‘angry’ saree, a ‘passionate’ tempayan, a ‘perplexed’ paper lantern or a ‘happy’ rug, though these could well be ideas worth pursuing. Craft is not made to produce a feeling for the sublime or explore ‘modern’ notions but instead to show respect for tradition and inherited forms. Craft is a manifestation of traditional forms in useful and useable things serving as a remembrance and reflection of who we are and where we came from. No matter how it is used or displayed, craft denotes cultural constraints and a particular worldview. Craft is about the past, both real and imaginary. Art, on the other hand, is about the present and the possible future. In a multicultural country like Malaysia, we are proud inheritors of centuries-old traditions and value systems which will continue to play an important role in guiding our life. Yet, we also subscribe to western and contemporary thinking due to our history and the massive reach of global media of today. The country’s art history may be less than a century old but there have been conscious efforts to present the best of both eastern and western influences through various mediums and artistic approaches. What ties the works of Malaysian artists from different generations and varied backgrounds is the subject matter and content which invariably depicts and rejoices in the everyday realities of Malaysian life.
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'Maybe among the observers here, there are those who long for ‘stirring’ art that gives ‘life’ to conditions. Those who visit surely have his or her own philosophy about art, What is art for? Whom is it for? Is art for community more meaningful that art for art’s sake? Or art for development? Art for the nation? Art as an identifier of race? That which gives form to the soul?'​
Syed Ahmad Jamall
‘Art’, according to the popular expression, is ‘subjective’. A piece of art could be read from a number of perspectives and appreciated on a number of levels. The viewers each will respond to it differently based on their personal feelings or preferences which may not be what the artist intended. But this is not something that is unwelcome. If an artist is able to elicit a strong reaction or inspire a totally different way of looking at things, then he or she has made the world a richer place. It is because the mind has now been derailed from its usual tracks; the habitual pattern of thinking is broken, allowing new neural pathways of insight to form. Art is not black and white thinking. It is that grey area between two ends where reflection and contemplation can take place. It sometimes demands a bit more of its viewers but what it gives in return is a heightened sense of appreciation for the vagaries of life. Art is not that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but is the rainbow itself, to be enjoyed until the next one appears. Art too has healing powers. This was recognised nearly fifty years ago when the Minister for Social Welfare, at the launch of an art exhibition in 1969, proposed ‘Art as Spiritual Cure’ (Seni Lukis sebagai Ubat Kerohanian), as reported by the Utusan Melayu (5th August 1969). It is no coincidence that RHB’s Art with Heart: Act of Kindness exhibition is launched on the 13th November which is World Kindness Day; a day for celebrating acts of kindness.
From the 13th - 24th November, don’t just be kind to others, be kind to yourself too. Get some artworks, for Art is a gift of kindness to oneself. You deserve it.
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