PHOTO ART EXHIBITION : ARTWORKS QR CODE #15
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CURATOR NOTES: To the center of the painting lies a still figure embedded by multiple arrows, a somber imagery closely reminded me from the story of Benkei Musashibo, who, according to legend, died standing full of arrows piercing through his body to protect his master, Yoshitsune Minamoto. On the left-hand side of the painting is a figure of a man, illogically afloat using a child bicycle while adorning a red cape, akin to that of popular fictive superhero, Superman. His face, however, were made non-distinguishable due to the light reflected from a classical nako glass window, a common sight of a Malaysian flats, and of lower- and middle-class home. Lastly to the left, an easel can be seen with an undiscerned painting overlooked by an undiscerned portrait. Interpretively through these arrays of characters, Kok Hooi had brought upon many distinct character and story of many possibilities which encompasses emotional values from different narrative, settings and distinctive history both mythological and based on object of reality within one thematic, which can perhaps be connoted to the theme of sacrifice, expectations, drama and dilemma. On the bottom left of the painting is an almost hidden book called Art Competitions for Dummies with a picture of the National Art Gallery building on the cover, perhaps a critic on the judging process of national competition. The manifestation of an artist struggle with competition & recognition, with the leaning of art styles, ideologies identity, history and geo-cultural acceptance, an important thematic prevalent to Malaysian art from the 70s to early 2000s. Alike to contemporary art, it is a constant struggle of devotion, sacrifice, the pursuit of distinctions, worldview and aesthetics that defines ‘good’ or ‘bad’ art to the masses, whether you are well read or otherwise, in the introductive phase. EXTERNAL REFERENCES: Link to the reference painting The Intervention of the Sabine Women – Wikipedia Artist: Jacques-Louis David Year:1799 Dimensions: 385 cm × 522 cm (152 in × 206 in) Location:Louvre |
