Lot 018
KOK YEW PUAH
b. Selangor, 1947-1999
KELANTANESE BOATS, 1996
Signed and dated ‘KY96’ (lower right)
Oil on canvas
128.7cm x 128.7cm
PROVENANCE
Collection of Usha M, Kuala Lumpur.
ESTIMATE RM 15,000 - 25,000
PRICE REALISED RM 17,600 |
This composition has an unusual perspective. The viewer is situated on a fisherman’s boat which is positioned on the sandy beach and therefore going nowhere. The static energy of this scene is offset by two other sampan (traditional wooden boats) on either side of the main centred object on the shores of the beach; one on the left stays on the beach while the other on the right seems to be moving away from the eye and further into the sea towards a dark stormy cloud. Gestural brush strokes, however, paint a sunny optimistic seascape closer to the shore with bright blue, cerulean and aquamarine, complimented by yellow ochre earth. The key feature to note is the distinct ornamentation on the mast at the core of the composition. Guardian spirits, looking left and right, back to back, are painted in fierce expressions in order to ward off evil spirits at sea and become the central focal point.
The little forward momentum suggests hesitation, while the painting reads as a metaphor addressing so many conflictions in life. It stands as an allegory for the transitional phase between stagnation and change, the push and pull between tradition and modernisation, dual identities and coexistence of man and nature and the reconciliation between the old and the new.
Born in Klang, Selangor, Kok Yew Puah went abroad to study but lived most of his life in his birthplace and is even referred to as a “Klang” artist. After studying painting and print-making at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, he set aside his artistic skills during the 70s in order to manage his family’s food business. In the late 80s, he made a tentative return to the art world and began to develop his own extraordinary brand of Malaysian realism.
Kok Yew Puah’s most important contribution has been to find an accurate and powerful expression for the visual reality of Malaysia. He forged a particular brand of realism with which he chronicled authentic images of modern Malaysian life to date. In this sense, Kok Yew Puah was a pioneer in Malaysian figuration, capturing urban life during the rapid changes of the 1980s to 1990s in a vision that was multi-ethnic and optimistic.
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