The Steve Wong Art Collection, built up over a period of three decades and comprising more than a thousand artworks by over 350 artists, provides an overview of contemporary art making, particularly contemporary painting, in Malaysia from the 1990s to the present, together with regional practices from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. The exhibition of works selected by Steve Wong serves as an introduction and invitation to the collection.
Image above: Installation view at level 5, GDP Campus, from left to right — Ruben Pang, Cradle Me Bravely (2016) and Ronald Ventura, Monkey Man (2008). Photo: Kenta Chai
Not Only in Black and White: Works from Steve Wong’s Art Collection begins with a visual proposition: what and how do we see in black and white? In image-making, “black and white” recalls the bare bones of visual form. Without the comfort and distraction of color, an image is somehow naked, either particularly vulnerable or particularly bold. In our minds, we may associate “black and white” with a theory of opposites – positive and negative, substance and absence, darkness and light. We may see these in tension with each other or in complement to each other. In the English language, something presented in “black and white” is seen as clear, unambiguous, fixed, incontrovertible.
An exhibition in black and white encourages the viewer to change their aesthetic perception and invites them to develop a special way of looking at and thinking about the works of art that bring them together and their relationship to one another. The artworks shown here are in many black and white textures. A few are influenced by a brief burst of color. We see figuration and abstraction, man and nature, boys and girls, order and chaos, anger and joy, and thus a series of assumptions and categories that need to be questioned. In our increasingly polarized world, we need artists to help us ask these questions by navigating and understanding their experience of the “now” by readjusting perspectives.
Artists:
Agus Suwage
Ahmad Fuad Osman
Ahmad Shukri Mohamed
Ahmad Zakii Anwar
Arif Fauzan Othman
Bayu Utomo Radjikin
Carlo Gabuco
Chan Kok Hooi
Chang Yoong Chia
Cheong Kiet Cheng
Chong Kim Chiew
Chong Siew Ying
Chong Yan Chuah
Drew Harris
Edroger Rosili
Erik Pauhrizi
Faizal Suhif
Fauzulyusri
Geraldine Javier
Haffendi Anuar
Hamir Soib
Hannah Nazamil
Hasanul Isyraf Idris
Hisyamuddin Abdullah
J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra
Jimmy Ong
Jumaldi Alfi
Justin Lim
Kaloy Sanchez
Kamal Mustafa
Kayleigh Goh
Kedsuda Loogthong
Kide Baharudin
Kim Ng
Kow Leong Kiang
Latiff Mohidin
Liv Vinluan
Luis Antonio Santos
Luke Heng
Lyle Buencamino
Maryanto
Melissa Tan
Minstrel Kuik
Mohd Khairul Izham
Mujahidin Nurrahman
Nadiah Bamadhaj
Najib Bamadhaj
Norberto Roldan
Olan Ventura
Pangrok Sulap
Paul Nickson Atia
Phuan Thai Meng
Putu Sutawijaya
Romulo Olazo
Ronald Ventura
Ruben Pang
Sabri Idrus
Saiful Razman
Samsudin Wahab
Tan Wei Kheng
Tan Zi Hao
W. Rajaie
Wong Hoy Cheong
Wong Perng Fey
Yee I-Lann
Yeoh Choo Kuan
Yim Yen Sum
Yunizar
Zac Lee
Zelin Seah
Zulkifli Yusoff
WHEN?
Exhibition dates: Sunday, June 23 – Sunday, August 11, 2024
Opening hours: Wednesday – Friday, 12 – 6 p.m., Saturday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
WHERE?
GDP Campus
Level 4, No. 79, Jalan Setiabakti
Bukit Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
COST?
Free admission
