Mandatory-On-Air is one of ten paintings which were displayed in Samsuddin Wahab’s solo exhibition titled Not Enough after winning the Malaysian Emerging Artist Award in 2010. Illustrated here is a skeletal figure sitting on a white electric chair - depicted pushing the switch down to ‘ON’ - triggering an electric shock as represented by the shock hazard signs.
 

The show Not Enough represents the artist’s “dreams of an unwritten future.” It marks “a new beginning of subject matter his work transcends mere graphic illustration through poetic metaphors and visual strategies that emphasise a new phase of self questioning and realisation. Fluctuating between the real world and the dream world his contradictions, hopes and desires emerge in a confessionary moment that represents a new chapter for yet more epic takes on reality and illusion.”
 

One of Malaysia’s most exciting contemporary artists, Samsudin Wahab creates large scale works in a surreal manner conveying his concerns over “issues of conspiracy, social power, and governmental control over the masses”. His subject matter of politics and social commentary is depicted with high intellect and wit, displaying a concoction of digital iconography, comic book and tattoo-styled imagery to form and to derive from an elusive fantasy. A graduate from UiTM Seri Iskandar Perak in 2005, he then obtained his degree in Printmaking with a Bachelor (Hons) in Fine Art from UiTM, Shah Alam in 2007. He held his first solo exhibition titled Enough! in 2008 where this piece was displayed. He was the recipient of the Malaysian Emerging Artist Award in 2008 which granted him a solo show titled Not Enough in Kuala Lumpur in 2010. He participated in an artist residency programme at Rimbun Dahan from 2009 to 2010. He belongs to the experimental sound and performance group SO sound. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Malaysia, Denmark and Korea since 2003 with his participation at Art Stage Singapore in 2013 that displayed his epic piece titled Spectacular (2012).
 

REFERENCE

http://galerichandan.com/mea-winners-showcase/