Promise of things to come
7 min read
It's a tough call looking for artists in their twenties who have managed to show pizzazz, daring and redoubtable skill while still in their formative years.
Sculpturing Penang’s public spaces
11 min read
A squat oval marble sculpture on a circular pedestal sits forlornly at the edge of the paved estuary dominated by The Garage entertainment centre. Many people pass it by without batting an eyelid, or stopping for a breather or to take pictures beside it.
A focus on female artists
9 min read
FOR NG KIM HEOH, 2010 presents new challenges and an uncertain future. After years of teaching and working her way up to the post of senior assistant in a secondary school in Penang, she opted for early retirement on Jan 1 and decided to pursue art.
Even for artists, it’s about location, location, location
8 min read
Penang holds an attraction for foreign artists that locals find hard to comprehend. Perhaps what is most obvious is what is most difficult to notice.
Birdmen of Penang
8 min read
The battle for habitat between man and bird is an ancient one, and sadly, man is winning.
Nirmala’s last wish
7 min read
Above: A 1986 work from Nirmala’s Damai series on the pity of war, The Pity War Distilled. Ink drawing of a bag lady in Brussels in 1995.With vision...
What now, after Teng (Sr)?
7 min read
Datuk Chuah Thean Teng, known as Teng (Senior) was Malaysia’s only artist acknowledged to have started a world art form, Batik Painting. He died two years ago at the age of 96, leaving behind children and grandchildren, many of whom are artists in their own right.
New life for old masters?
8 min read
For the pioneer artists, most of whom had their base, or at least their early beginnings, in Penang, it set bench-mark prices for their works of specific series and media.
Will art world acronyms prove auspicious?
7 min read
Penang, it seems, has caught on to the fetish for acronyms. In September, the 1MCAT "came" to Penang. There was much for art aficionados to PIPE about and SIP up the heady cocktail of local art and global prints.
The Art Market Is Booming
7 min read
The Malaysian art scene is thriving, with record-breaking sales at events like the AEM and Henry Butcher Art Auction. Young collectors are driving the surge, sparking greater global interest in local art.
Making future artists better
9 min read
Throw a stone and you would hit a few Datuks. The joke may be trite, but for artists, “Datukships” are exceptions to the rule. Still, Penang is one state that has conferred the coveted award on six of its visual artists, and all deservingly so.
Being a part of what you paint
9 min read
“Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang” (watercolour on paper).FOR ALL HIS FAME and extraordinary skills, Tan Choon Ghee never got to be fabulously ri...