Lot 043
NAJIB AHMAD BAMADHAJ
b. Johor, 1987
BLACK FIGURE SERIES, 2010
Signed and dated 'Najib Ahmad 10' lower right
Charcoal on paper
77cm x 58cm
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Kuala Lumpur.
ESTIMATE RM 800 - 1,200
PRICE REALISED RM 2,860
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This monochromatic charcoal work on paper leaves a lasting impression of mystery to the viewer. The silhouette of an anonymous figure that reveals only a pair of piercing eyes has taken still-life drawing to a new dimension. Could our increased attraction to ambiguity also mean that we are strangers ourselves? This work from Najib’s Stranger series was done during his final-degree class under Professor Jalaini Abu Hassan at the Universiti ITM. He confides to feeling uncomfortable and having all kinds of foreboding thoughts about this dark blob at the back of his mind. Maybe, it is not as sinister as he painted, one that actually prods him into action through guilt or fear.
Najib Ahmad Bamadhaj proves to be an admired artist in the Malaysian contemporary art scene. He has already made an impact despite only graduating in 2010, with a Bachelor (Hons) Fine Art at UiTM, Shah Alam. Within a short period of time, he has chalked up an impressive credential: Finalist, Visual Art Award 2011, Starhill Gallery, KL; Consolation Prize, Expressions of Malayan Tiger, Maybank Art Gallery, 2010; First Prize (Mixed Media), Tanjong Heritage Art, 2010; First Prize, Nando’s Kicking Off With Art & Soul, KL, 2010; Second Prize, Open Johor Art, Johor Art Gallery, 2009; Consolation (2-D), Nando’s Art of Recycling, 2009; and Finalist (Open Category), MRCB Art Awards, National Art Gallery, 2008. Najib’s first solo exhibition Great Migration at Taksu Gallery in 2012 has boosted his reputation as an artist with a string of notable works from the Endangered series exhibited the previous year. He is participating in a three-man show at the OCBC Bank in Singapore April this year.
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