Lot 43
RAMLAN ABDULLAH
b. Perak, 1960
STILL STANDING - HOME, 2007
Wood, wood stain, wax and metal
198cm x 59cm x 59cm
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
ESTIMATE RM 19,000 - 25,000
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Ramlan Abdullah hails from Kuala Kangsar where his late grandfather was known as a builder of the town. In his sculptures made in recent years, there have been new developments from his Minaret to the Monumenta series. Ramlan has dropped his stacks of cut-glass sheets for rough timber and metal rivets, while keeping the concept of his tripod stand to elevate the actual work on the base. His themes revolve around Nature, Islamic values, architecture, tradition and technology. This work, Still Standing - Home, is a triumph in defiance against obstacles, with the symbolic solitary block standing on top of the heap surveying all below it.
Ramlan reached the height of his career when he won the Grand Prize in the 2nd Oita Asia Sculpture Competition, one of the most prestigious sculpture competitions in the world, in 1995. He has also had his onion-shaped work in brass, steel and marble rock called Growth erected at the Fumio Asakura Museum Park in Oita. After graduating from UiTM, he studied for his BFA at the Wartburg College in Iowa (1986 to 1987) and the School of the Art Institute Chicago (1987 to 1988) before obtaining his MFA, Post-Baccalaureate studies at the Pratt Institute, New York, in 1990. In 1981, he won the Zain Azraai Art Award and the Minor Award in the Risda Mural Competition. In 1993, he won the Major Award in the Kuching Waterfront Competition and in 1996, the Best Sculpture Award at the APEC Gardens in the Philippines. That year, he was also the recipient of the Juror’s Prize in the Malaysian-level Philip Morris Asean Art Awards.
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