'Art with Heart': A mix of artists old and new eager to reach a wider audience

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — The child rubbing one eye with the back of his right hand. An adult, perhaps his mother, an older sister, sits in the background tapping away at her smartphone. An I.V. drip stand looms ominously. Almost everything is blue, the colour of sadness and loneliness; the child alone in colour, a silent storm of emotions.

The above oil painting by Rais Azmi, titled Solitary: Waiting, startles me by how moving it is and also how still it can be.

Not every feeling has to be shouted from the rooftops or tweeted in a cacophony of capital letters.

Rais is so certain of what he wants to say with his art that it’s almost surprising he’s not a decades-worn veteran but a relatively fresh face on the block.

This is entirely by intention according to Norazzah Sulaiman, CEO of the RHB Foundation, the organiser of the Art With Heart Exhibition 2019.

She says, “Like past exhibitions in 2016 and 2017, the objective here is to raise awareness of local young and emerging artists because we need a platform for their first and foremost exposure.”

That said, the slate of 27 artists is a mix of newer names such as Izzat Hamdan and Alicia Lau as well as more established ones such as Dzul Afiq and Zaimie Sahibil.

Norazzah explains, “The rationale here is to improve engagement by mixing veterans with the newbies; the former may pull their fans in and they’ll be able to view works of younger artists that they otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to.”

Nor Tijan Firdaus binti Abu Bakar is one of the compelling new artists represented. Using e-waste on panels finished off with clear and matte resins, she pays homage to the original vibrant lines of Steve Magada, an American abstract painter, albeit with the unlikely flow and ebb of inorganic materials she favours. You can almost hear the jazz, the sublime sound and rebellious fury.

Art With Heart 2019 was first conceived in August last year and is curated by Sarah NH Vogele. She says, “We wanted to showcase works by artists who are still under the radar. The younger ones have seriously ‘mad’ skills. Tay Lu Yee’s Rungus Long House — technical pen on paper — is her way of putting forward her cultural roots, allowing audiences a peek at what a Rungus long house is.”

According to the much sought-after art curator, there is no barrier to art. She adds, “There is only art which is guiltless; everyone gets equal opportunities. I look at Art With Heart 2019 as a form of free and natural beauty which brims with spirit.

"To put it simply, we focus on the creative power of these image-makers. A painting can look so wondrous to the naked eye, but if it has no spirit, then it is just a picture.”

This year, the exhibition has expanded its roster beyond Peninsular Malaysia. Norazzah says, “We are looking for those who would benefit from the exposure this event will bring. As a result we have nine Sabahan artists; we hope to have Sarawakian artists too in the future.”

In tracking down suitable artists, the relationship between the curator and the fine arts lecturers at institutions such as UITM and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is crucial.

Norazzah says, “The professors link us up with these lesser-known artists. As they do not know how to market their artwork, this is a good opportunity for them to explain their artwork — why and how they do what they do.”

One such discovery from this painstaking process is Biri Usine Anak Panau, whose Bejalai series employs Iban motifs as a storytelling technique.

Bejalai means “to walk” in the Iban language, and the paintings take us on a journey with the nomadic Ibans of yesteryear as they go hunting deep in the jungles.

Their distinct art of tattooing, known as berpantak, are indelible symbols of the tribes’ culture and customs — revived here and captured for posterity.

Organising any event is no walk in the park and art exhibitions are a bigger challenge than most, especially given a less than receptive public.

As with many things in life, location is everything. Norazzah says, “For the earlier two exhibitions, when Tan Sei Hon was curating them, we tried having the first one at Balai Seni for a day and then the second one at our RHB headquarters lobby for a week but that limited the walk-in traffic. We’re hosting the 2019 edition at Bangsar Shopping Centre, a community-based mall so we can reach out to those who are art and community conscious.”

I doubt even those who aren’t particularly art conscious would be unmoved by what Wong Ming Hao, one of the featured artists, does with layers of acrylic and gloss gel on canvas. His subjects seem to shatter like broken mirror glass, crackling with hidden depths and secrets.

What moves me even more is his remarkable growth from works such as Sitting Figure, a straightforward pencil drawing on canvas, and I Still Don’t Understand, an almost minimalist study in his now signature acrylic and gloss gel technique, to one of my favourite pieces in this exhibition, This is Me, I Guess 3.

The latter grabs you with its collage-camouflage effect — all peeling skin and cracking soul — and with the painter’s sure hand. What a waste, one realises, if this astonishing growth wasn’t recorded.

As artists grow, so must the art exhibitions that showcase them: to find young artistic visions in need of nurturing, and help them be seen; to uncover unique voices in need of an audience, and help them be heard.

Art With Heart Exhibition 2019 by RHB Foundation
Venue: Concourse area, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Dates: 24 June to 30 June 2019
Time: 10a.m. to 10p.m.
For more information, visit www.instagram.com/rhbfoundation/

* A previous version of this article contained errors which have since been corrected.

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