Malaysian Art Scene

(Community Matters) Tuesday spent catching up on work and coddling jet lag, but now working to organize our Saturday excursion to check out  landmarks neither of us have seen (we’ve both been here once before – separately) and Kuala Lumpur’s thriving art scene.

Lots of buzz about Malaysian artist Kow Leong Kiang (who’s painting – pic– Geyser gained plenty of attention during the recent Art Expo Malaysia).  Also want to check out two Malaysian artist coops, Matahati and Rumah Air Panas (I can’t yet determine if the latter still exists).

Not expecting a pirate’s treasure – the Wall Street Journal reports that Malaysian artists have been found and their works’ prices soared since 2006 – up to 100 fold for the best known artists such as Ahmad Zakii Anwar (his 1998 Figure 1 the pic to right)

Since 1998, Malaysian artists are expressing more political commentary – certainly between their colonial past, brief stint with communism, and now the tension of democracy negotiated with increasing fundamentalism.  (Malaysia is made up of 80% Malays and Chinese and 5% Indian.  Most Malays are Muslim.)

I’m reading that international conceptual artist Wong Hoy Cheong and Yee I-Lann (pic) are some of the best representatives of this work. Hoping to see both of their works on Saturday.

homosexuality is outlawed here – though represents a thriving KL scene. Neverthless, Steven and I have ordered up a rollaway since our trip is mostly business and we don’t wish to offend or place in a difficult position our hosts.