Justin Lim – Paintings for the observer and the observed

Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) Kuala Lumpur is pleased to present Paintings for the observer and the observed, a solo exhibition by Malaysian artist Justin Lim. The exhibition will run from 12 June to 18 July 2026, with an artist-led walkthrough on 13 June at 4pm.

Centred on a two-work presentation, Paintings for the observer and the observed invites viewers to pause and attend to the often overlooked details of lived spaces and domestic interiors. Developed as part of the artist’s broader enquiry into observation, memory, and everyday environments, the works examine the emotional and psychological dimensions embedded within intimate spaces.

Through carefully composed scenes depicting domestic interiors filled with artworks, objects, books, plants, and curiosities, Lim transforms familiar environments into contemplative and layered visual narratives. Central to the exhibition is the act of looking itself, where the relationships between observer and observed, artist and collector, and the tension between intimacy and distance, quietly unfold through painting.

The restrained scale of the presentation reflects the exhibition’s central preoccupation: that a slower, more deliberate encounter with a work can surface meanings that a busier or more expansive context might obscure. In attending closely to what fills a room — and to who inhabits and regards it — Lim’s paintings ask what it means to truly look, and to be looked at in return.

Justin Lim (b.1983, Malaysia) received an MA (Fine Arts) and BA (Hons) Fine Art majoring in painting from The Open University UK, conducted at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore.

Lim’s paintings transform domestic private living spaces into intimate psychological landscapes, where personal histories quietly unfold. Drawing from familiar objects and surroundings from his hometown of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, his works are a recollection of feelings, experiences and places that are often elusive and ambiguous. Shaped in the wake of Covid-19, his practice has deepened its focus on solitude and introspection, treating memory and presence as intimately intertwined.

He has exhibited widely internationally and held residencies at Art Omi, Hudson Valley, NY, USA (2026); Kates-Ferri Projects, New York City, USA (Artist in Residence, 2025); The Tasmanian College of the Arts, University of Tasmania (International Artist in Residence, 2016); Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China (Khazanah Nasional Artist Residency, 2013); Vermont Studio Centre, USA (Asian Artist Fellowship / Freeman Fellowship, 2011); and Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia (Malaysia–Australia Visual Artist Residency, 2008).

Selected group exhibitions include Contemporary Chaos, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2018); Asia Young 36 / Asia Contemporary, Jeonbuk Museum of Art, Jeonju, South Korea (2016); Modern Love, Earl Lu Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore (2015); and Asian Art Biennale: Viewpoints and Viewing Points, Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (2009).

His work has been featured in The Financial Times, Madame Figaro, Hi-Fructose Magazine and The Observer.