Ooi Kok Chuen

is an art-writer and journalist, and the author of MAHSURI: A Legend Reborn (Ooi Peeps Publishing), an adult contemporary fantasy “movel” (a novel conceived as a mock movie) spun from a local legend.

152 posts

No Creative Inertia for Malaysian Artists, Thank You

7 min read

WITH MORE PEOPLE getting vaccinated against Covid-19 with a view to achieving herd immunity, art spaces are opening up again, albeit still under SOPs such as we...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Malaysia’s Top 100 Auction Lots Across the Decade

5 min read

Ibrahim Hussein’s Man with Possessions, 1964. Oil on canvas (122 x 122cm).WHO IS THE No. 1 Artist in Malaysia?Going by the market record of prices...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Spotlight on Indian Malaysian Artists

9 min read

WHY ARE THERE so few artists of Indian (including Singhalese) descent in Malaysia?

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Confessions of a Framer of Art

7 min read

WOULD YOU BLOW a couple of hundred Ringgit to frame just a small piece of tissue paper?This was one of the curious incidents in the 38 years of arty framing b...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Malaysian Artists Invade the Web

6 min read

ZAS visit to Prof Madya Ramlan Abdullah’s studio-workshop in Shah Alam.Session with Anniketyni Madian and Maxine Xie Xian Xin.IDLE TIME AND re...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

A Year Marked by the Passing Away of Artists Across the World

7 min read

THE DEATH FROM coronavirus of China celebrity watercolourist Liu Shou Xiang on February 13, 2020, in Wuhan, marked the annus horribilis of a lethal disease that...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

The Freedom Young Artists Can Enjoy

7 min read

Mohd Al-Khuzairie Ali’s Follow The Leader.Gauze sheets hung indoor over a “clothesline” with little wind, little shadows; “moody&r...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Alma Mater to Master Artists

7 min read

Choong Kam Kow. Vitalizing the Qi-4 (Fit For Life 23 - Taiji Series 20). 2013. Acrylic. 122cm x 122cm.“Here’s looking at you, kid.”Thi...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Painting in the Footsteps of Monks

5 min read

Min Wae Aung keeps up a disciplined daily regime of painting with breaks for food, walks and a de rigeur movie.Flip-flap, flip-flap! You can almost hear t...

by Ooi Kok Chuen

How are Art Fairs Faring?

7 min read

Latiff Mohidin's Provoke (oil on board, 1964).Pagoda II (oil on canvas, 1964).Malam Merah (Red Night) (oil on canvas, 1968)....

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Penang Art: Chance, Renewal and Sustenance

11 min read

Penang’s vibrant arts scene, once nurtured by state support and iconic spaces, now grapples with shrinking funds, shuttered institutions, and an exodus of talent. What will it take to revive it?

by Ooi Kok Chuen

Evolution of a museum

6 min read

Hasnul Saidon: “I find it fascinating working with special groups such as classic car enthusiasts or bicycle clubs.”THERE IS A QUIET revolutio...

by Ooi Kok Chuen