In conjunction with the exhibition, LIGHT & SPACE | 得意忘形, join us for an art discussion with artists Liew Kwai Fei and Sharon Chin.
DATE / Saturday, 28th April 2018
TIME / 3:00 – 5:00pm
VENUE / OUR ArtProjects @ The Zhongshan Building
No.80 Jalan Rotan, Off Jalan Kampung Attap, 50460 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
FROM WALL, TO WALL / DARI TEMBOK, KE TEMBOK
Liew Kwai Fei in conversation with Sharon Chin
Part I: Influence
- Tracing the history and development of Fei’s art practice through his various influences over the years
- Exploring influence as an ongoing conversation within culture, influence as how culture circulates
- Understanding influence as power: top-down influence vs. influence between peers
Part II: Language
- How does writing construct modern and contemporary art in Malaysia?
- When bad writing happens to good art (and vice versa): do people trust what they read more than what they see?
- Misunderstanding and mistranslation
- Understanding language as power and privilege in Malaysia
- Breaking authority: what can talking face-to-face do, that writing cannot do?
Part III: Transcendence
- Going from wall, to wall; making paintings from house paint
- Understanding the relationship between the ordinary and the extraordinary
- Understanding the relationship between art making and the life that makes it possible
- What does social class have to do with it?
Part IV: Q&A with audience
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Liew Kwai Fei explores high and low culture alongside issues associated with the legacy of colonialism such as class, nationalism, and race through the language of painting. Spanning over a decade, his practice is contextually specific to the artistic and political landscapes of the time, both locally and globally. The idiosyncrasy and hybridity of Liew’s style are clearly manifested in his modular paintings and installation art.
Sharon Chin lives and works in Malaysia. She works across a variety of media to address environmental and political issues. She has hung a suite of sails across the lobby of an embassy, listened to strangers’ hearts on the streets of Sydney and been tear-gassed while wearing a costume of yellow flowers. Her art has been shown at home and abroad, at institutions like the National Visual Arts Gallery, Galeri PETRONAS, Singapore Art Museum, Queensland Art Gallery, and Incheon Culture and Arts Center, Korea.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
OUR ArtProjects proudly presents LIGHT & SPACE | 得意忘形 — the eighth solo exhibition by Liew Kwai Fei. Named after Dulux Light & Space ready-made emulsion paint, which claims to “reflect up to twice as much light and make the room brighter and more spacious”, LIGHT & SPACE hints at the non-physical and the transcendental while the Chinese title, 得意忘形 complements the former by referring to the attainment of a higher state of mind when one transgresses form. Deriving from the Latin prefix trans-, meaning “beyond,” and the word scandare, meaning “to climb,” transcendence implies an achievement or a state of being beyond ordinary and physical limitations.
Consisting of complementary pairs of works on paper and modular paintings on linen, the exhibition attempts to bring out the qualities of a transcendental experience by creating a sense of lightness and a space for contemplation. The humility and omnipresence of emulsion paint are what drew Liew to the medium. We live in spaces surrounded by ready-made emulsion paint in our homes and offices — yet we do not notice its presence.
Throughout Liew’s artistic practice, he has been exploring different forms and possibilities through painting. In LIGHT & SPACE | 得意忘形, the modularity and site-specific arrangements of the works open up possibilities for them to be viewed as paintings, sculptures and/or objects. On the whole, LIGHT & SPACE | 得意忘形 suggests an avenue through which viewers can reclaim the spiritual in a materialistic society.
EXHIBITION DATES / 13th April – 5th May 2018
OPENING HOURS / Tuesday – Saturday 11:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday by appointment (3 working days advance notice is required)
Closed Mondays and public holidays
ADMISSION IS FREE
For more information, please visit our website www.ourartprojects.com
