Lot 147
Tajuddin Ismail, Dato’
b. Negeri Sembilan, 1949
Gridscape III, 1988
signed and dated
‘Taj 1988’ (lower right)
oil on canvas
122 x 122 cm
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Kuala Lumpur
ESTIMATE RM 30,000 – 55,000
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Dato’ Tajuddin Ismail’s Gridscape III, in sleep-inducing sombre colour bands, has demarcating thin strips horizontally, vertically and diagonally. The lines traverse seven unequal tiers, constricting the vision and making the space ambiguous, and fostering a sense of contemplation. This work is from Dato’ Tajuddin’s Innnerspace solo exhibition held at the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur in 1991. The series is inspired by grid-like structural composition with dark muted hues in subtle shades and values. As he explained: “The saturated coloured lines and stripes contrasted strongly with the planar horizontal bands creating spatial tension and depth without the use of conventional perspectives.”
Dato’ Tajuddin’s firm sense of graphic design and Architecture was latent, which is unsurprising as he was trained in Graphic Design at the Art Centre College of Design in Los Angeles (1974) and did post-graduate Interior Architecture at the Pratt Institute in New York (1979-1981). This was after his studies at the Mara Institute of Technology in Shah Alam in 1969-1973. A Fulbright research fellow in 1987, he won the Minor Awards in the National Drawing Competition in 1977, the National Graphic Art competition in 1978 and the Salon Malaysia in 1979, apart from the National Design Council in 1994. After retiring as associate professor of Fine Art and Interior Architecture at Universiti ITM, he became associate professor and academic adviser in the Fine Art Department in Sunway University. His solo show entitled Ambiguity was held at Segaris Art Center in 2018. |