Bazaar Art Jakarta 2016

Richard Koh Fine Art is pleased to showcase a presentation of works by two emerging Malaysian artists from the 80s, Haffendi Anuar and Hings Lim, at Bazaar Art Jakarta 2016 (Booth D1), from 25 to 28 August 2016. This fair will be held at The Grand Ballroom, The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place, Jakarta, Indonesia. Haffendi and Hings will be exhibiting their recent works which displays the extent of their practice.

Haffendi Anuar will present a selection of geometric painted panels which displays the exuberance of urban vernacular architecture in Southeast Asia. Inspired by language of modern Western geometric abstraction and the architectural elements in his home city, Kuala Lumpur, such as grill works on doors and windows in rougher neighborhoods and columns, he examines the motifs in relation to Western art history and the culturally injected idea of modernity. The panels, which are made into certain standardized sizes, appear at first glance to be machine made, but are actually painted and sanded through a meticulous process of craftwork. The paintings’ often smooth surfaces and at times metallic or florescent colors make reference to the prevalence of digital culture and the computer screen. They have also been multiplied and constructed into installations, along with freestanding sculptures, depicting overwhelming fictional city facades of various perspectives.

Hings Lim will be showing his multidimensional art practice that uses the framework of the participatory project in the process of making an artwork. Engaging different marginal communities in Kuala Lumpur such as the newly emerged communities of foreign workers, immigrants and refugees, he encourages the individuals in these groupings to be a part of art-making process. The projects are set up in the different communities’ public spaces, almost like an installation or a happening, where the participants are provided with a makeshift mark-making tool consisting of a handled-wheel, acrylic paint and canvas. They are given the freedom to express, creating paintings that appear like Abstract Expressionist works. The paintings, by-products of the different happenings, question the authorship of the artworks and engage the non-artist to be a part of the art dialogue.